Newcastle are winless after their first four games and ahead of only Wellington Phoenix on the competition ladder. A loss to new franchise Western United at Geelong on Saturday could leave the Jets four points adrift of the top six and playing catch-up at an early point in their campaign.

But Hoffman, one of four players in Newcastle's squad to have appeared in 200 or more A-League games, has no doubt that the Jets' fortunes will soon turn if they persevere.

"For us, it will be all about the performance," Hoffman said.

"If we stick to the plan and the performance comes first, the result will take care of itself ... we've got enough experience in our squad to know that if we stick to the game plan, stick to the way we want to play - we're doing well in most of our matches - we've got enough experience to know that the points will come.

"For us, we definitely feel that we're in a good position and there's no need to panic yet. We're confident."

Hoffman said that there was "still a lot of football to be played" and plenty of time for Newcastle to find some winning form.

"Other than the Sydney game [a 4-1 loss], we've been in every game and I feel we should have won the other matches we've been involved in," he said. "For us, we look at that as huge positive. We're playing good football, we just need to get the small details right."

Hoffman opened his goalscoring tally for the season in last week's 1-all draw against Perth with a clinical left-foot strike.

In the absence of Abdiel Arroyo, who is unavailable because of international duties with Panama, Hoffman heads the short list of candidates to play as the point of Newcastle's attack on Saturday.

But he said Jets coach Ernie Merrick had been "keeping everyone guessing" by experimenting with a number of different attacking combinations at training.

"Against Sydney we played with two number nines, and that was Arroyo and I, working off one another," Hoffman said. "So it's only two weeks ago that I got a taste for being more central, up front. But as far as being an out-and-out number nine, the last time I would have played as that was when Roy [O'Donovan] was missing through suspension at the start of last season.

"So for me, if that's the role Ernie wants me to play on Saturday, so be it. I'll do that to the best of my ability."

The Jets have fond memories of GMHBA Stadium, having beaten Melbourne Victory 2-0 there last season.

"It's been a happy hunting ground for us," Hoffman said.