Newcastle Jets may be strapped for cash but coach Branko Culina is convinced the troubled A-League side is not lacking in character after their win over Perth Glory.
The Jets cast aside another week of uncertainty over their future to register a first win of the season with a 2-0 triumph at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Friday night.
Culina said his players had done themselves and the club proud with a deserved win but spoke of the importance of backing up the performance against Gold Coast on Wednesday – should the match go ahead.
“It’s no good winning today and then dropping the next one,” Culina said.
“You have to get some consistency in your results.
“It’s been extremely, extremely tiring for us in the last three or four weeks in particular. I just want everything off the park to die, to go away so we can just play football because this team is quite capable of being a very good team.”
The Jets’ future will become clearer on Monday, when owner Con Constantine continues talks with Football Federation Australia about a plan to rescue the club.
Culina said he was preparing for the Skilled Park match as normal but may have to make do without defender Tarek Elrich after he was forced off just before half time with a corked thigh.
“Hopefully it’s nothing serious … but we’ve got a bit of depth so hopefully if Tarek’s unable to make it others will come in,” he said.
The sour point of a positive night for the club came with a disappointing turnout on Friday night.
Despite a passionate call to arms by Culina and the club to send a message about how badly Newcastle wanted a team in the league, less than 7000 fans were present to see the win over the Glory.
“Our job is to do the business on the park,” Culina said.
“I told the players, we can’t control what happens off the park and therefore let’s not worry about it, let’s just do the job.
“I’d like to think this city’s got potentially a wonderful football team , so it’s up to them to decide if they want to support it or not.
“But we will do everything we can as long as we’re given the opportunity to do the best we can every time we run out.”
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