Newcastle Olympic have had confirmation they will not have Jason Hoffman on board until July 1, as they face a packed schedule of crucial games against teams at both ends of the NPL table.
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Sixth-placed Olympic play their fourth game in 10 days when they take on second-last Adamstown in a catch-up on Tuesday (8pm) at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility. They then take on unbeaten leaders Lambton Jaffas on Sunday and No.2 side Broadmeadow the following Sunday.
The club hoped to have Hoffman released early from his Jets contract for the stretch, but he won't be free until Monday, July 1. Olympic play last-placed Lake Macquarie two days later in another catch-up.
Olympic (20 points) sit two points behind Valentine but have two games in hand and they are banking on results against the bottom teams to break into the top five.
"It's a crucial game to try to get back in front of Valentine, because we have been in a battle, switching spots each week," Olympic coach Paul DeVitis said. "Adamstown are coming off a win so they are obviously going to have a bit more confidence. And we've definitely struggled against them over the years."
Adamstown (5 points) scored their first win of the year last Wednesday, beating Lakes 3-1 to go ahead of them by two points in the fight to avoid last spot and relegation. They were then washed out against New Lambton (eight) on Saturday.
Despite their battles, Rosebud have beaten Olympic once in each of the past three seasons. Coach Chris Moylan hoped to challenge Olympic again but said they will be hard to beat at LMRFF.
"They will have an advantage because we are on the synthetic surface and they train out there," Moylan said. "But we are certainly going into the game feeling OK. We understand we are a bit of a bogey team for them, so we'll see how we go."
Rosebud keeper Stuart Plant (groin injury) and defender Dane Lawther (suspended) are out.
Plant was injured early in the second half against Lakes, while Lawther picked up a fifth yellow card.
"We are starting to come together as a group," said Moylan, who took over mid-season from the sacked Daniel Dawkins.
"The game against Edgeworth [a 7-0 loss], we really struggled. They were just too good and we weren't at our best.
"But fortunately we've managed to get a couple of training sessions in since then, which as a new coach has been a big challenge. We'd played three games and not had a training session, and that's tough."
Olympic are coming off a 2-1 NPL win at Maitland (15 points) on Saturday, which followed a 2-0 victory over Charlestown at LMRFF and 1-0 loss to Edgeworth at Darling Street Oval in the Australia Cup.
"For the table, it was a really important game for us to get distance on them or for them to close the gap," DeVitis said of the Maitland game.
"It was a super tight first half, and a really cagey game with no real chances for either team.
"We weren't keeping possession as well as we would have liked, but they made it hard and were pressing us quite well.
"Then the second half we played much better and probably dominated, and we should have scored a couple more goals.
"We scored a couple of nice goals, especially the first one [by Kane Treble]. That was nice play in transition. So we were really happy with the second-half performance and of course the three points."
Blake Green made his return off the bench from a calf tear.
"We've got a full squad available and a couple of boys coming back from injuries the next few weeks," he said.
Craig Kerry
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
