Charlestown will turn to former Edgeworth premiership winner Lachlan Pasquale to play a key role when they take on the high-flying Eagles on Friday night at Jack McLaughlan Oval.
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Pasquale played more than 60 games for Edgeworth in their four consecutive Northern NSW NPL premierships but featured only seven times last season.
The midfielder moved to the Blues this year in search of more opportunities but missed the opening-round 3-1 loss to the Jets Youth with suspension.
Charlestown coach David Tanchevski said Pasquale would start in place of captain Matt Tull, who aggravated a shoulder injury in round one.
"He's a very similar player to Tully, he gives you good engines and he's very good defensively," Tanchevski said.
"When we first spoke to him, he just wanted the opportunity to play first grade and prove himself, and enjoy football again, so he'll be keen to cement a regular spot in first grade."
Charlestown will again be without wide defender Tom Smart, who will finish a yellow card accumulation suspension. Smart was missed last week as the Jets Youth, featuring A-League attacker Angus Thurgate, pounced on loose passes in defence and midfield to punish the Blues.
In contrast, Edgeworth made a stellar start to their push for a record 13th top-division premiership, thumping grand final champions Broadmeadow 6-1.
On Saturday, Adamstown host Weston, Maitland welcome Valentine, Jaffas are away to Hamilton and Magic travel to Lake Macquarie.
Tanchevski said Tull, who hurt his shoulder in a pre-season mountain bike fall, had been cleared to play but he was wary of repeating their woes of last season. The Blues led the league for the opening nine rounds but faded under a mounting injury toll to miss the finals.
"We had a tough enough time with injuries last year so I'd rather be cautious," he said.
"It's a long season so I'd rather he miss a game here than miss three or four in a row."
"I was pretty happy with our performance, but we were probably a bit unhappy with our delivery, our distribution could have been better at times," Tanchevski said.
"But I don't think any other side in the comp would have punished us like Thurgate punished us when we made the mistake."