Craig Deans says Saturday’s pre-season trial match between the Jets and Wellington will be a good litmus test for both Clubs.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets assistant coach Craig Deans says Saturday-s pre-season trial match between the Jets and Wellington Phoenix at Rockwell Automation Park will be a good litmus test for both Clubs.
The fixture will be the Jets- first hit-out against Hyundai A-League opposition this pre-season, while Wellington will be playing their second such match after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Western Sydney Wanderers on Wednesday night.
“It-s always interesting when you play your first trial game against another A-League team because it-s a chance to compare yourself to where they-re at,” Deans said.
“It-s always a tough game against Wellington, so it-ll be a good challenge and from that point of view, we-re looking forward to it.”
The Jets will travel to Napier to face the Phoenix in the third round of the Hyundai A-League season.
Deans said Newcastle would be using Saturday-s fixture to do some reconnaissance on their opponents prior to facing them during the season proper.
“This game will be good for us in a few different ways I think,” he said.
“It-s a chance to spend some more time working on the way we want to play against a good opposition.
“We also get to see Wellington for the first time with Ernie Merrick as their coach, so I think their style of play will change a fair bit from previous years.
“We play them quite early in the season proper so from an analysis point of view it-s good as well.”
Deans said he expected the Jets to field a strong line-up during Saturday-s match.
“We-ve got to get a balance between being mindful of how many minutes people play, but at the same time we-re playing against an A-League opposition, so we have to make sure we-re competitive for the whole 90 minutes,” Deans said.
Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix
Rockwell Automation Park, Weston
Saturday, August 24th
Kick-off 4.30pm
