Newly appointed Charlestown coach Niko Papaspiropoulos has welcomed the return of several players as Azzurri prepare to face defending champions and competition heavyweights Newcastle Olympic on Saturday.
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The two sides are set to trade blows in round six of Newcastle Herald Women's Premier League at Darling Street Oval and the visitors are out to build confidence when they field what is expected to be their strongest line-up for weeks.
Papaspiropoulos is Azzurri's WPL 15s coach and steered Merewether's 14s side to championship glory last season. He was appointed to Charlestown's first-grade position during the week after Michael Lee had stood down ahead of round five.
"The key thing for this week against Olympic is to get a good reaction and a good response from the girls and try to get a good performance in and try to get a result," Papaspiropoulos told the Newcastle Herald.
"I think if we show up with the right mentality and play with a bit more confidence than we have in the last few games due to injuries and unavailabilities and get a good performance this week, it can set us up on our way to climb back into a finals position."
Consistency has been Azzurri's biggest hurdle but the return of several key players today will bolster the seventh-placed side. Charlestown have only three points from four outings while Olympic are second on 12 points after five games.
Striker Lori Depczynski, one of Azzurri's most experienced players, returned to training this week and will make her first appearance of the season on Saturday. Depczynski had been sidelined with a knee complaint.
Papaspiropoulos expected midfielder Tamara Nash to also play. Nash was forced from the field with a leg issue during last weekend's 2-1 loss to Warners Bay.
Attacking players Jess Gentle and Ash Gavin both return after being unavailable last week.
"They give us a bit of pace and helps us be a bit more dynamic going forward, which we did lack a little against Warners Bay," Papaspiropoulos said.
Azzurri have also picked up attacking player Olivia Tannock, who last played as part of Merewether's 2018 championship-winning side.
Olympic will be full strength with wingers Georgia Little and Georgia Amess both coming back into calculations after being out last round.
Little was waiting for concussion test results and Amess was unavailable.
Olympic coach Harmonie Attwill told the Newcastle Herald she was looking forward to seeing what her full-strength side could do this weekend.
On Saturday, third-placed Warners Bay (9) face fourth-placed Adamstown (7) at John Street Oval while unbeaten league leaders Broadmeadow (15) travel to Taree to play Mid Coast (4).
On Friday night, Maitland improved to six points and fifth place with a 6-0 win over last-placed New Lambton (0) at Alder Park. The Magpies led 3-0 at the break. Bronte Peel produced a match double and Taleah Mountford, Ainsley Childs, Mercedes McNabb and Emmeline Pepper also scored.
The Eagles have signed former W-League striker Jenna Kingsley with the multiple Herald WPL leading goalscorer coming off the bench in the second half against Maitland.
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