It will be the Jets' first home game in three weeks and comes after three losses on the road.

Newcastle are playing a fan-pleasing, exciting and entertaining style of football but Papas said "defining moments" at both ends of the field were hurting the Jets.

It is what cost them in a 3-2 loss to a ruthless Phoenix on the Central Coast in a midweek match last week.

"We've got to improve in key areas to make sure that that's a different result come tomorrow night, especially in front of our supporters," Papas said on Thursday.

"That's probably the biggest letdown in everything. The players know they're playing well to a certain degree and still not coming away with a result.

"It's making sure that our supporters see that they're still giving everything and there is going to be improvement."

The Jets conceded goals in the third and 88th minutes in a 2-1 loss to Adelaide in Adelaide on Sunday, when Newcastle created more scoring opportunities but were beaten on the counter-attack.

An important win against seventh-placed Phoenix (21 points) would propel the Jets back towards the top six. Newcastle, who have 15 points from 15 outings, dropped from ninth to 10th place after Western Sydney (18) beat Adelaide (27) on Wednesday night.

They are six points adrift of the top six and just three points off the bottom of the table with 11 games to play.

"In defining moments, we've let ourselves down and we need to improve on that, and if we can improve in those areas we're really very close to a very good result," Papas said.

"We're creating a lot of chances. In the last two matches, the opponent's goalkeeper has been the man of the match, which tells you a bit of the summary of what's been happening. But that means also that we need to concentrate more in both boxes ...

"It's a matter of sticking to what we're doing, improving, concentrating, key moments. The last 10 minutes of the game, the start of the game, getting into a certain rhythm and giving yourself a chance to not always have to come from behind.

"There's a lot of positives in the way we've gone about playing and building what we're doing. In the end, though, we want to improve our results."

Papas expected to have a full squad to choose from. Goalkeeper Jack Duncan has returned to training this week after missing the past two games with a quadriceps injury.

The game is at 7.45pm.

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