Soccer | Jets desperate to regain bragging rights from arch rivals

And the Jets chief executive hopes his players need no reminding that the Mariners currently hold them.

Despite a lean 2018-19 season in which they won only three games and finished with their second consecutive wooden spoon, the Mariners enjoyed one highlight - their 3-2 triumph against Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium in round 22.

That shock loss left Newcastle five points adrift of the top six at a crucial stage of proceedings, and they were unable to recover, eventually finishing seventh.

"It's probably the game when they beat us here near the end of the season that cost us a chance for the finals," McKinna said.

"So if I'm a player, I'm thinking about that."

Newcastle get a chance to settle a debt when they clash with their arch-enemies at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday, in their first game of this A-League campaign.

The Jets have enjoyed a dominant record at Gosford over the past two seasons, where they have won three consecutive games by a combined scoreline of 15-4.

McKinna, the Mariners' inaugural coach, said there was always "good banter" between the neighbouring clubs, as evidenced by he and Jets football manager Joel Griffiths unfurling a banner reading "Newcastle, a class above" at Central Coast's recent FFA Cup home semi-final against Adelaide.

"Obviously that caused a bit of a stir but it's just good banter," McKinna said.

"We want to go down and have the bragging rights. It's been like that for years.

"Anywhere you play your local rivals, anywhere in the world, you want to get three points at any cost.

"I've been involved in a lot of these tussles, when I was a coach, and they mean a lot to the fans."

Meanwhile, McKinna had no concerns about Newcastle having to play their round-three clash, against Adelaide on Saturday week, on a newly relaid McDonald Jones Stadium pitch.

A $1.4 million re-turfing operation has started and is expected to be completed by the weekend, giving it a week to settle.

When the pitch was last re-surfaced, in 2015, the Jets hosted Melbourne Victory barely 48 hours later.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat did not complain immediately after the game, a 2-all draw, but the following weeks he said: "If we're honest, the surface wasn't good enough for football . . . Was the safety of the players at risk? Possibly.

"Players couldn't train this week. A lot of players couldn't train because they were sore coming off that surface."

Two months later, Melbourne City coach John van't Schip described Newcastle's pitch as being in "very bad condition" and rated it a "four out of 10" after his team's 5-2 demolition of the Jets.

At the end of the season, the annual Professional Footballers Australia poll rated Newcastle the worst playing surface in the A-League.

McKinna said he felt that over the past few years there had been no problem with the pitch.

He was confident it would be in good shape for the clash with Adelaide.

"These guys have invested more money to get the top-end turf that can be basically played on the next day ... it's basically overnight and you can play the next day," McKinna said.

"So thanks very much to Venues NSW, for putting that faith in the team, and the Knights as well."

The pitches have a life span of four to five years before they start to deteriorate.