Western Sydney Wanderers boss Carl Robinson returns to face his former side Newcastle Jets for the first time on Friday night, when the two sides meet at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Robinson was Jets head coach for just 11 games in the 2019/20 campaign but the 44-year-old made quite the impact, winning seven and drawing three of the 11 matches he oversaw.
Now he returns to the Hunter with the Red and Black, intent on getting his new side off to a similarly strong start to the 2020/21 campaign.
Both teams approach the contest having lost their opening game of the season – neither the Jets or Wanderers featured in Matchweek 2 after falling to respective 1-0 defeats in the league’s opening weekend.
The Jets – led by interim boss Craig Deans – will be out to inflict defeat on their former coach and avoid an unwanted record – they’ve never before registered back-to-back defeats to start an A-League campaign.
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Match details
Friday, January 8 2021
Kick-off: 7.05pm AEDT
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports 505
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports
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Team news
Newcastle Jets squad: 1.Lewis ITALIANO (gk), 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 9.Roy O’DONOVAN, 11.Ramy NAJJARINE , 13.Maki PETRATOS, 14.Ali ABBAS, 15.Tete YENGI, 18.Jack ARMSON, 17.Valentino YUEL, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 22.Lachlan JACKSON, 23.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 24.Connor O’TOOLE, 25.Jack SIMMONS, 27.Lucas MAURAGIS, 28.Blake ARCHBOLD , 32.Angus THURGATE, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 4.Nigel BOOGAARD (return from suspension), 25.Jack SIMMONS (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2.John KOUTROUMBIS (ankle – 2 weeks), 5.Benjamin KANTAROVSKI (calf – 2 weeks)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 2.Ziggy GORDON, 4.Dylan McGowan (c), 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS, 7.Bruce KAMAU, 8.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 9.Bernie IBINI, 10.Simon COX, 11.Kwame YEBOAH, 13.Tate RUSSELL, 14.James TROISI, 17.Keanu BACCUS, 18.Graham DORRNAS, 23.Kosta GROZOS, 27.Nicolai MULLER, 30.Daniel MARGUSH (gk), 33.Mark NATTA, 34.Patrick ZIEGLER, 39.Thomas AQUILINA, 50.Oliver KALAC (gk)
Ins: 7.Bruce Kamau (promoted), 33.Mark NATTA (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil
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Did you know?
- Newcastle Jets are unbeaten in their last eight matches against Western Sydney Wanderers.
- Eight of the Wanderers’ last nine goals have come in the second half of matches.
- The Wanderers have kept only two clean sheets in the A-League since the beginning of 2020.
- The Jets have never previously opened a new season with back-to-back defeats but could do that after losing their opening match of this campaign to the Mariners on New Years Eve.
