Wayne Brown says Newcastle Jets have found a winning mentality in the Hyundai A-League this season, which was key to their F3 Derby win on Tuesday night.
Despite being below their best, the Jets prevailed 2-0 over a 10-man Central Coast Mariners thanks to goals in the last eight minutes from Dimitri Petratos and new-boy Patricio Rodriguez.
It was a huge result for Ernie Merrick’s side, consolidating them in second spot and keeping the heat on league-leaders Sydney FC.
The Hunter club are eight points behind the Sky Blues after 15 games.
“It’s just about that belief and that winning mentality,” Brown told Fox Sports when asked the key to the Jets’ impressive form.
“Winning games breeds confidence and belief that when its 0-0 or even when you’re down in games, we’ve shown we can come back and get the win.
“The gaffer [Merrick] has us playing in an attacking style and we’ve brought in quality this season,” the Englishman added.
“The boys up front, we believe they can score every game and we’re doing that. The first half we gave the ball away a bit cheap but the second half we came through and the boys put it away.”
Goalkeeper Glen Moss played a key role in the win, pulling off a couple of crucial saves to keep scores level either side of the break.
But it was debutant Rodriguez who left the fans longing for more after an eye-catching 35-minute cameo off the bench after arriving less than a week ago.
The Argentine showed he could be a real weapon for the Jets for the remainder of the campaign with a classy finish in stoppage-time to seal the result.
“He’s just got that touch, a little bit like Ronny Vargas, they are so hard to get the ball off,” Brown said of Rodriguez.
“And if you do dive in they skip past you and make you look a bit silly.
“I’m definitely glad he’s on our side…he’s only going to get better.”
