MATT Jurman has never experienced a pre-season like the current one but the hard-nosed defender is confident the Jets are headed in the right direction and will be ready to fire.
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The Jets tackle Western United in their first competition match - a must win FFA Cup qualifier - on November 13, which is less than two weeks away. They open their A-League campaign against the Mariners at McDonald Jones Stadium on November 21.
"Our preparation may be a bit different to normal because of conditions with COVID but you have to be ready," Jurman said.
"There are no excuses.
"Our first competitive game is only two weeks away. We are working towards Western United and that is all we are focused on, getting right for that. We want to obviously win that game and move to the next round.
"There are a lot of things we need to work on. That is normal when you get a new team together. The progress has been really good. You can see that players are getting used to what the boss wants and getting used to the players around them. Come the first competitive game, we are excited and confident that we can get the job done."
The Jets played APIA Leichhardt in a friendly on Saturday night in Sydney.
No official score was kept but it is understood that the Jets accounted for the NSW NPL outfit by a five-goal margin.
That performance followed a 5-0 defeat against Sydney FC in a modified hit out played over three 45-minute periods in which 23 players were used.
Jurman and central defensive partner Jordan Elsey didn't play against APIA and trained afterwards instead.
"The scorelines do not matter to us at the moment," Jurman said. "We have had some good ones, we have had some bad ones. It is all about improving. All we are focused on is getting what the boss wants us to play into our heads and getting the fitness levels up.
"It was a good hit out. Everyone is putting their hand up for selection. Competitiveness in the team is a good thing. Come Western United it will be tough for the boss to select a best XI."
Before the Western United showdown in Melbourne, the Jets will play against Macathur in Sydney on Friday night. Coach Arthur Papas expects to have near a full roster available for the hit out.
"We haven't been able to play a lot of games," Jurman said. "The ones we do get, we have to take very serious and get as much as we can out of them in terms of the way we want to play and the fitness side of things. It will be another good test for us to see where we are at and push on from there."
Jurman had by a slight leg issue and has only started in one pre-season game - Sydney - to date.
He is yet to line up alongside fellow senior defender Jordan Elsey, who has sat out the past two friendlies with a minor calf issue.
"The understanding between myself and Jordan Elsey when we are playing together is good," Jurman said. "It is normal for things to take a bit of time when it's a new centreback partner. In saying that, we also have Riley Warland and Mo Al-Taay has also been playing a bit of centreback. We are understanding each other more and more every day. It is definitely something we are going to keep building on and improving."
