JETS coach Arthur Papas has urged his struggling players to "keep believing in themselves", adding that it is highly unlikely reinforcements will be arriving to help turn their season around.
Newcastle have slumped to ninth on the A-League ladder, three points adrift of the top six, after Sunday's 2-0 loss to Macarthur Bulls.
They have lost seven of their past nine games and scored only one goal in their past five outings.
The January transfer window opens on Tuesday but Papas said the Jets - who have been bankrolled for the past two years by the owners of rival clubs - were not expecting to make any mid-season signings.
"Not at the moment," Papas said.
"We're not in that position as a club. We're in a different circumstance and we understand that.
"We've still got players here that need to do better, without thinking that you need to sign someone else to make yourself better all the time. There's players here that need to perform better."
Papas said he could sense some players were "lacking a lot of belief", especially in goalscoring situations.
"We're getting into good situations but just lacking a lot of belief, in that last third of the ground ... we're so desperate to score a goal, and desperation can turn to anxiousness as well," he said.
"It's about being composed and believing in yourself when things aren't going well. That's for everyone.
"The players need to keep believing in themselves."
Asked if there were any players in the Northern NSW NPL competition - or in Newcastle's academy - who could potentially step up to the A-League, Papas said he would "love to have a team full of young Newcastle kids".
But he added that was not realistic because youth development in the region had been "neglected" for a number of years.
"You can't just push youth-league players into the first team if they're not ready," he said. "I admire what Central Coast do. I admire how they've gone about it. I admire what Adelaide do.
"But make no mistake, they didn't start that 18 months ago. They started that five years ago.
"Five years ago they were scouting the best talents, whether they're from their own states or from other states.
"So it's always interesting when that comes up about the locals ... there's a lot of talent in the region, but it needs a proper pathway.
"People that are invested in it.
"It's easy to pinpoint the head coach but youth development starts way before it gets to the head coach."
The Jets next play defending premiers Western United in Melbourne on Sunday and Papas admitted they needed a result to stay in touch with the top six.
"There's no thoughts of you're out of any race or anything ... [but] it's important you don't fall too far away," he said. "Like I said, I think there's a lot of potential in the group but we're not realising it."
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