SPANISH midfielder Mario Arques will make a much-anticipated debut for the Newcastle Jets against NSW NPL club APIA Leichhardt in Sydney on Saturday.
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The final piece to Arthur Papas' jigsaw puzzle, Arques sat out the Jets' 5-0 defeat to Sydney FC on Tuesday as a precaution.
The 28-year-old was the final of the Jets' five foreigners to arrive and has been involved in seven training sessions since completing quarantine.
"We have to be really mindful of these guys who have come out of quarantine," Papas said. "We don't want to break them now and then they are playing catch-up all season."
The Jets' other imports Beka Mikeltadze, Savvas Siatravanis, Daniel Penha and Olivier Boumal impressed against the Sky Blues.
Mikeltadze and Penaha has shots well saved by Andrew Redmayne, Savvas was denied by the woodwork and Boumal caused problems running at defenders.
Penha, although small in frame, was not afraid to mix it physically. He received a second yellow card in the 50th minute for a challenge on Luke Brattan. With it being a trial game, the Brazilian was replaced by Jordan O'Doherty. Papas said the plan was always to replace Penha around that time.
"We took Daniel off early. We didn't want to chance it with him," Papas said. "We have a lot of foreigners who haven't played in this country with Australian referees and they have to adjust and and they have to learn quickly. I'm confident they will learn because their attitude is great."
The Jets paid the price for a couple of sloppy turnovers at the back, gifting Sydney a 2-0 lead after 22 minutes on Tuesday. From there, they were chasing the game.
"Unfortunately there were a couple of errors, which immediately got punished," Papas said. "I thought some of our movement was positive. Physically, we ran the game out strongly. That was pleasing.
"As long as we have something to take away and you see parts of what we have been working towards, I am quite positive about it. The players will be harder on themselves than anyone. There is a lot to build on."
Papas will rotate the squad for the 90-minute hit out against APIA.
"We need to get players to certain levels," he said. "The following weekend we will play Macarthur and will be in a position to really test ourselves again in preparation for FFA Cup."
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James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
