O'Doherty, a 23-year-old midfielder, linked with the Jets on Friday after the club struck an an 11th-hour trade deal that has allowed Steven Ugarkovic an early release to join Western Sydney.

O'Doherty has signed for the final six games of Newcastle's campaign, and the club holds an option on his services for 2021-22.

He trained with his new teammates for the first time on Friday.

Ugarkovic, a mainstay in Newcastle's starting team for the past six seasons, had signed to join Wanderers next season but, after weeks of negotiations, the Jets agreed to expedite his release.

Newcastle would have insisted Ugarkovic honour his contract had they not been offered a player in exchange, and in O'Doherty, Deans feels they have a worthy replacement.

The Olyroos hopeful has played in 63 A-League games, 28 for Adelaide and 35 for Wanderers.

Deans was confident he could fill Ugarkovic's boots.

"That's the plan," Deans said.

"Every time a player comes to the club, the idea is that they strengthen the team.

"Stevie, he's played 100-plus consecutive games for us, so in terms of consistency and effort and quality, he's obviously done that ... [O'Doherty] is not like for like, but he's got a similar skill set to Stevie.

"He's got ball-playing abilty, but he's probably a bit more attack-minded."

O'Doherty last played in Western Sydney's 5-4 loss to Melbourne Victory on April 23, but Deans said he would "definitely consider" including him in the first 11 against Sydney.

"That's something we'll weigh up as a coaching staff, but you have to take risks in life if you want to get something out of it," he said.

"So I think there's a good chance I'll give him a chance."

Deans was satisfied that Newcastle's management drove a hard bargain before eventually agreeing to release Ugarkovic.

"That was important for our club, that we're not just lying down and losing people," he said.

"I think it's important that we made a stand, in a sense, that we're trying to build something here."

Deans wished Ugarkovic well and said there were no hard feelings towards the 26-year-old playmaker.

Wanderers coach Carl Robinson, who worked with Ugarkovic for half a season at the Jets last year, described his new signing as "one of the top midfielders" in the A-League.

"I worked under Carl for a short time, but he took my game to the next level and I really look forward to working under him again," Ugarkovic said.

"He's that type of coach that can get the best out of me."

Deans revealed Newcastle had spoken to "quite a number of players" as they set about reinforcing the roster for next season and beyond.

"Hopefully every player that comes in now is going to have the skill set and the character and the desire to make this club better," Deans said.

"That's why we take our time. We don't want to bring in players who are a quick fix.

"We want to bring in players who have a desire to be here for the long haul and want to be part of something that is better than it is now.

"It's a process we're going through."

Newcastle will welcome back skipper Nigel Boogaard on Saturday after he trained strongly all week to confirm he had overcome a fractured leg that caused him to miss eight games. Striker Roy O'Donovan will also return from a one-game suspension.

"Nigel deserves the opportunity to come back in, and we need his leadership," Deans said.

"We look a different team when he's not in there.

"He's important for us but we're not going to win a game because Nigel is back.

"It's about everyone around him doing their job as well .... but for us it's a team game and we want our strongest team on the field as often as possible."

Winless in their past 11 games, Newcastle are last on the ladder and need some positive results to bridge the two-point gap between themselves and Melbourne Victory in the race to avoid the wooden spoon.

"The position on the ladder is no where anyone wants to be," Deans said.

"But if you talk to people and break it down rationally, there's an understanding of why that is and where we're trying to get to next year."