Newcastle coach Gary Van Egmond hopes the early trend of away winners in the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League continues on Wednesday when the Jets play the biggest match of their history away to Korean side Pohang Steelers.
The one remaining Australian side in the tournament following the elimination of the Central Coast, Newcastle will endeavour to reach the quarter-finals of the prestigious competition.
Under a new format, two-legged games following the group stages have been replaced by one sudden-death match.
While that might seem a disadvantage to Newcastle, Van Egmond drew encouragement from the early results of matches in the last 16.
“In the Western Conference, (home advantage) hasn’t been much of a bonus,” Van Egmond told AAP from Korea.
“In the four games played, three away teams got through and I’m hopeful that trend continues.”
Van Egmond was looking for a disciplined display against a team he said was very difficult to beat.
He was wary of the dual strike force of Brazilian Denilson and Macedonian Stevica Ristic.
“They’ve got real pace and two very mobile strikers in Denilson and Ristic who know where the back of the net is and can hold the ball up,” Van Egmond said.
“They are quite physically strong players as well. They won’t be intimidated by the so-called physical presence that Asian teams claim we have.
“They are well organised and with their home ground advantage they go into the game as favourites.”
Van Egmond stressed the need for the Jets to retain possession in what is likely to be warm conditions.
“We want to make sure we stay nice and compact defensively and then build from that into the game,” Van Egmond said.
“The first twenty minutes you want to really try and keep your goal intact.
“You want to take the pace out of the game and take the crowd out and I believe they are going to get the crowd in excess of 12,000, up to 18,000 which is pretty close to a full stadium.
“I’m sure they will make a lot of noise, the stands are very close to the field.
“We have to ensure we keep possession in our own half and not give the ball away after one or two passes.”
Van Egmond believed Newcastle had the depth to replace unavailable defensive linchpins, Ljubo Milicevic and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
He reported no injury worries prior to a familiarisation session at the Pohang Steelyard ground.
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