A-League soccer: Jets primed for physical test against Melbourne City

After a rush of four games in a fortnight, the Jets have six days to prepare for the battle against the defending A-League champions at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Newcastle were humbled 4-2 by a rampant City at McDonald Jones Stadium nine days ago. The home side - playing their third game in a little over a week after a six-week COVID hiatus - were decidedly flat.

City dictated the tempo, suffocated the Jets in defence and dominated possession.

It was a very much an unlike Jets performance.

Jurman limped off with an ankle injury early against City and missed the bounce-back 2-1 triumph over Victory on Saturday.

However, he is training and is pushing for a recall.

"We are travelling a day early to get settled," coach Arthur Papas said. "We will look at Matty again tomorrow. Sometimes with these things they improve quickly, sometimes they take a bit longer.

"Players have to be 100 per cent to be selected.

"Of course, Matt is important being the captain and leader of the team. But we saw on the weekend, we brought Taylor Regan in and he did very well. We have options.

"We do not have to make a rash decision. We will give it as long as we need.

"The rest of the squad have pulled up really well."

After a day off, Papas put the Jets back to work, with a focus on conditioning.

"We have been through a lot since the Christmas period when all these stoppages began," he said. "To get back on the field, be competitive and win some games has been positive.

"This is another opportunity for us to improve and test ourselves against a team that gave us a very tough time only a few days ago.

"We have been trying to get our conditioning back to a good level. The City game was after two games in four days. They hadn't played in 10 days and were fresh.

"Physically, we felt we weren't where we needed to be.

"It has been about getting back the physical standards we had prior to the break.

"I don't think there will be any rest until the season is over. The way the fixtures have worked out for us and a couple of other teams, it is extremely congested.

"It is all about recovery, getting back on the field, having fit and healthy bodies ready to go after every game. We will rest when the season is finished.

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"We have to find our rhythm again and to do that we rely heavily on how good we are physically. I think we are at that point where we are getting there again. That is a big part of our game. we are mobile, we are aggressive, we run really strongly."

City, after benefitting from a 10-day lead-up the win over the Jets at McDonald Park Stadium. will line-up for their third game in a week on Friday.

They conceded a late goal to go down 2-1 to Adelaide on Tuesday night and are likely to lose captain Scott Jamieson and livewire Marco Tilio to injury.

Asked if the shoe was now on the the other foot, Papas said: "Possibly. I know they pride themselves on their physical condition and the tempo they play at.

"We are going to have to be at our best. We have worked really hard this week to get fresh and increase the intensity in what we are doing."

The Jets travelled to Melbourne on Wednesday, a day earlier than normal.

There are no flights that could accommodate the whole team so we will travel two days before," papas said. "We will go to one of my old clubs. They have given us their facilities to train. It will give us an opportunity to stay together and prepare well."

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