JETS coach Arthur Papas will wait until late in the week to make a call on Spanish midfielder Mario Arques for the FFA Cup qualifier against Western United in Geelong on Saturday night.
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Arques didn't feature in the Jets' 6-3 win over Macarthur on Friday and has played just 30 minutes against Broadmeadow Magic since touching down in Newcastle almost four weeks ago.
"We got some running into Mario on Friday," Papas said. "We have to build him up a bit differently. It has been the same case with every player who has come out of quarantine. It is a very irregular pre-season.
"We would have liked to get Mario here a bit early. We didn't. That doesn't mean we are going to throw him in now and create a bigger problem for ourselves.
"We are going to be patient.
"There is still a possibility that he will play against Western United. It depends from Wednesday how he starts progressing."
Kosta Grozos, Jordan O'Doherty and Angus Thurgate have played at the base of midfield.
"There are guys who have been training and are running really strong," Papas said.
"In a normal context this is your last pre-season game. If it wasn't a cup competition, you would look to get minutes into certain people.
"If we make a decision to bring Mario along, he will have to be fit enough to contribute for a long period of time."
A call on Arques is not the only selection decision Papas will wait until later in the week to make.
Positions in the starting XI are still very much open.
"In every position there are a couple of people fighting for a spot," Papas said. "It is a healthy place to be.
"We haven't thought about who is the XI to face Western United. We will probably look at that from Wednesday. The first part of my week is making sure we have everyone back on the track. We work on the way we want to play and start talking about them towards the later part of the week."
Papas described the comprehensive win over Macarthur a "step forward" but said there were still a lot of areas to improve.
"Realistically, that is the second time we have played an A-League team, which is quite startling," He said. "I saw things that we all understand that we have to keep working on. "The players got confidence, belief, got some extra conditioning in which is the most important. Overall. it was a positive day without taking it more than that. Keep going and another brick added to the wall."
Meanwhile, Professional Football Referees Australia (PFRA) are set to end strike action, which should ensure FFA Cup matches are controlled by the game's leading whistleblowers.
A-Leagues referees stood down from officiating trial games and FFA Cup matches due to a dispute with Football Australia over contractual issues and a lack of resources.
"We have had talks with Football Australia and I am expecting positive news either tomorrow or Tuesday," PFRA president Paul Cetrangolo said. "If everything can be sorted in the next day or so then we would be happy to cease the strike action."
and all our members would be available Australia wide."
The referees were left without contracts, a director of referees and other coaching programs were not continued when the A-leagues were unbundled from Football Australia in July.
"We have had positive talks with Football Australia and I am expecting positive news either tomorrow or Tuesday," PFRA president Paul Cetrangolo told the Newcastle Herald. "If everything can be sorted in the next day or so then we would be happy to cease the strike action."
and all our members would be available Australia wide.
"The three issues were the lack of coaching and structure, contracts and a couple of our members being removed from panels.
"The contracts have been finalised, the coaching structure should be finalised in the next few days in terms of an announcement of the successful director of referees. We should also have clarity on the reinstatement of our members."
