Ernie Merrick has ruled out making wholesale changes to a misfiring Newcastle Jets for the visit by Perth on Saturday, but the coach has called on the players to "stand up" and show they deserve selection.
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The Jets are coming off a 4-1 loss to Sydney FC and sit second bottom without a win in three games.
"That was the first game we have played poorly," Merrick said. "It was a poor performance as well as a poor result.
"We need to pick up from here and start playing the way we know we can play. You don't change everything because of a loss like that.
"Our heavy training is Tuesday and Thursday, that is when we look at our structure for the next game and it is who stands up at training first of all."
Ben Kantarovski and Nick Fitzgerald are two players in contention for a recall to the starting side.
Kantarovski has played 90 minutes off the bench in two appearances back from a hamstring injury.
"He is getting there," Merrick said on the midfield enforcer. "It depends how he performs this week."
Fitzgerald was "sacrificed" for an extra man in midfield against Sydney.
"I sacrificed a striker to go with another attacking midfielder to combat their midfield strength and wide players," Merrick said. "It didn't work, I have to say. Nick comes back into reckoning for sure."
The Jets beat Perth on penalties in a pre-season tournament on the Gold Coast.
While both teams will field differently line-ups, Merrick is confident the Jets have the game to again topple last season's minor premiers.
"We have to play against Perth the way we played against them on the Gold Coast," he said.
"We have a structure that suits us really well. They play three at the back and with two wingbacks. We worked on that prior to that match and we will continue to work on that this week."
"We are always changing things because we have a game plan for each team. It is about getting the ball into the penalty box and getting numbers in there to finish, but also making sure we can reset to counter their wingbacks coming forward."
Meanwhile, the Jets have applied to have their round six battle with new club Western United at GMHBA Stadium on November 16 postponed because of international call-ups.
The Jets will lose at least Matthew Ridenton (New Zealand), Abdiel Arroyo (Panama) and Bobby Burns (Northern Ireland under-21s) to international duties that weekend.
The A-League scrapped international breaks this season due to the introduction of Western United and a need for playing dates.
As a result, clubs can request to have games rescheduled if they have two or more players away for 'A' internationals.
