COACH Joel Griffiths was happy for the club when Newcastle Olympic sealed a berth in the main draw of the FFA Cup for the first time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But that alone is not enough for Griffiths.
Olympic sit in fifth place on the NNSW NPL ladder entering a catch-up game with arch rivals Broadmeadow Magic at Darling St Oval on Wednesday night.
"Progressing to the FFA Cup round of 32 is great for the club," Griffiths said. "That is a tick. The feeling I am getting is that people are thinking 'yep we have done our job, we don't have to play any more'.
"We are fifth in a 10-team competition. That is not good enough. We are not anywhere near the top three teams. It is about wanting to be top of the league and doing what it takes to get there."
Former Adelaide United defender Yared Abetew will make his debut for Olympic after arriving in Newcastle on Monday night.
"He will only have had one session with us but he has been training and his last game was two or three weeks ago," Griffiths said. "It will be a good challenge for him playing against arguably the best team."
However, Olympic are again likely to be without several players due to COVID restrictions including Ryan Griffiths, who was in Sydney on Saturday when the lockdown was imposed.
"We could have postponed the game but we are playing," Griffiths said. "It is all about the squad."
Magic are fresh from a 5-1 rout of Charlestown Azzurri, which followed a 2-1 win over Weston in the FFA Cup last Wednesday night to join Olympic in the round of 32.
"We have to win our duels," Griffiths said. "James Virgili is playing well for them and is a big strike weapon. Mitch Rooke, the boy from the Central Coast, is a threat.
"Consistency is big for me. We have been hot and cold. We beat Jaffas in the FFA cup and then lose against Adamstown. On Sunday, we were down in the first half against Maitland - we were terrible - then we were up in the second half.
Magic leapfrogged Lambton to the top of the table after the win over Azzurri.
However, the competition leaders will be without Central Coast-based midfielder Jose Atayde and Matt Hoole, who works in Gosford.
"We knew this two week period would be a big one and pretty important and so far so good," Magic coach Damian Zane said. "We will probably bring one or two in to freshen it up a bit."
IN THE NEWS:
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark: newcastleherald.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News