JETS coach Ernie Merrick would rather have a tough game straight after a poor performance, and he has no doubt that is exactly what Newcastle will get on Saturday in Perth.
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Merrick flagged "a couple" of personnel changes and a switch in game plan to freshen up his squad for the Glory game after the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne City on Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium.
And he placed the blame for the "very, very poor and disappointing performance" against City squarely at the feet of his players.
The loss was Newcastle's fourth of the season and left them 10th on eight points from eight games. Merrick said the display was a one-off from his players. It was one of only two games where the Jets haven't been in the contest this campaign.
"The Sydney game, I put my hand up, because I thought I got the game plan wrong," Merrick said. "There was nothing wrong with the plan this time. It was just the performance of the players."
The Jets reviewed the game on Tuesday then worked on mistakes at training.
"We have a good structure but the boys have still got to understand when you're in the structure, you've got a job to do," Merrick said.
"The structure doesn't do the job, it just puts you in the right position to start your job, and we didn't get that right. And in possession, we didn't keep the ball well enough to create enough chances up front."
Newcastle now face the hardest road trip in the league against a side shooting for three consecutive wins. Perth beat Wanderers 2-0 last weekend and City 3-0 away a week earlier.
"Perth will be a challenge, especially over there. It's always a tough trip," Merrick said. "But I would rather play a good team because if you are going to prove you're worth being in the finals, and you've played so badly one week, it's really best playing a tough team the following week.
"The long trip always has an effect. We have to rise above the effect of the flight and we have to be highly motivated to get points out of the game, and from what I can see, the boys' attitudes are right.
"We'll freshen up the squad in two ways. We'll probably change a couple of players and give someone a start, and I could have chosen any players after that performance.
"But we'll bring in a fresh couple of players and we always have a game plan for each team, so that will be slightly different as well and that freshens up the boys for the next game."
Merrick has limited options for changes to his starting side given injured key players Nigel Boogaard, Abdiel Arroyo and Wes Hoolahan remain weeks away from a possible return.
Matt Ridenton, Bobby Burns and Pat Langlois came off the bench against City and are first XI options, but Merrick said striker Kaine Sheppard was not ready to start after his injury lay-off.
Burns, Sheppard, Jack Simmons and Maki and Kosta Petratos were pushing for promotion in the National Youth League clash with the Mariners on Tuesday night at Pluim Park.
"I always put everything in context," Merrick said.
"I think overall we've been playing really good football. We've competed with whoever we've played against apart from two teams, who are first and second in the league.
"We just need more points, more goals and we need to fix a couple of things, and I would say most teams would be saying the same thing at this stage."
Meanwhile, Jets youth keeper Noah James is away at a Young Socceroos talent identification camp in Canberra.
