Newcastle coach Ash Wilson has warned of complacency as they prepare to take on fellow A-League Women side Wellington Phoenix for the second time in the space of three weeks on Monday.
In their last match-up the youthful Phoenix were able to compete with the Jets for the best part of an hour before Newcastle blew them off the park to claim a 5-1 win.
But the Jets were unable to back their dominant showing, when they conceded late in a 1-1 draw against the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Mindful of another slip-up, Wilson said she would hammer home the point that the Phoenix were not to be taken lightly.
“It (complacency) is always a risk,” she said.
“But the message has been clear, you can’t think any game that’s coming up will be like a previous game.
“That’s done and dusted and Wellington will prepare the best they can. They have great energy and attitude.
“We need to focus on ourselves and try to replicate or even better that performance, because I realistically think that anything less than that is going to give them a sniff.”
Wilson admitted she had been “critical” in her review of her side’s performance against the Wanderers which has left them with one win, a draw and a loss to start the season.
“Honesty is very important,” she said.
“We were honest about the things we did well (too). We created a lot of chances but went too long (too often) and weren’t able to capitalise when we had the chance to put the game to bed.
“You need to have a good look at yourself when you play, that’s up to us as coaching staff to find ways to improve that.”
This week at least, Wilson has been afforded a full week of training.
The club’s men’s and women’s sides were both hit by positive cases of COVID-19, but Wilson welcomed an uninterrupted build-up to the Phoenix clash.
“Last week was a challenging week, but we didn’t want to use that as an excuse,” she said.
“The character of the girls, I couldn’t fault them.
“To be back this week and to not have those disruptions and have people available to train it’s obviously been a better week in that sense.”
