The Newcastle Jets are exploring the rules around signing injury replacement players as they eye their toughest test this campaign after goalkeeper Izzy Nino was sent off in a crucial 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory.
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The important result kept them in the finals race with one round to play but came at a cost with Nino issued her marching orders in stoppage time following a melee.
The Jets' No.2 goalkeeper Kiara Rochaix is sidelined after having finger surgery, leaving 17-year-old rookie Lily-Rose Dunbar as their only other shot-stopper.
Dunbar made her A-League debut on Saturday, replacing Mindy Barbieri for seven minutes of stoppage time.
The fracas was sparked when a frustrated Victory striker Emily Gielnik grabbed Barbieri from behind and pulled the Jets player to her feet in the 89th minute.
Barbieri had bent down to tie her shoelace after a Jets free kick was awarded in the dying minutes. The in-form Jets attacking player took exception to Gielnik's hands-on approach and the two engaged in a tussle before Nino came in, grabbing and shoving the Victory player.
Barbieri and Gielnik were both shown yellow cards.
The American goalkeeper, who has played every minute of every match for the Jets this season, is expected to miss at least one game through suspension.
The Match Review Panel will review the incident on Monday and determine an outcome.
"We'll have to work out what we do because obviously Kiara is injured and unavailable for selection, so we only have one goalkeeper at the moment," Jets coach Ryan Campbell said.
"So, we may have to look to sign a replacement goalkeeper for a short-term contract. We have to explore what the rules are around that.
"But we're going to have to do something because we won't have a second goalkeeper."
Substitute Melina Ayres produced two goals in seven minutes to seal the win and three points.
Victory took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute through Rachel Lowe but Lauren Allan equalised five minutes before half-time.
Victory defender Tori Hansen restored Melbourne's one-goal advantage in the 53rd minute.
But a clinical Ayres, whose season has been marred by injury, concussion and illness, struck with goals from the edge of the area in the 80th and 87th minutes.
The result elevated seventh-placed Newcastle to 30 points, three points behind Victory and Western Sydney (33 points).
If the Jets beat Adelaide in Adelaide on Friday and Victory lose to second-placed Sydney, the former will seal sixth spot with more wins.
"The mentality of the girls has improved so much over the year because there would've been a time where if we went 2-1 down we would've been scared, but we just went on with it," Campbell said.
"The biggest thing that showed is they believe that they're good enough to win. The mentality they showed overall to win that game was great.
"Now, the biggest challenge is we've won that game but now we have to go and beat Adelaide."