Newcastle Jets' coach Arthur Papas has rued "points dropped'' after his side missed out on the chance to close the gap on the top six in the A-League Men with a goalless draw against Perth Glory.
Despite controlling the first half on Wednesday, and racking up a total of 21 shots, the Jets couldn't make the breakthrough that would have moved them to within a point of the finals' places.
Even when Georgian striker Beka Mikeltadze did round Glory keeper Liam Reddy in the 21st minute, he shot wide.
"Probably does feel like a couple of points dropped," Papas said.
"Especially after the first half. I thought in the first half we were very strong with the ball.
"We played most of the half in their half and missed a couple of very good chances."
Glory were a greater threat in the second half and came close to taking the lead in the 51st minute, when Nick Fitzgerald's flicked header forced Jack Duncan into a split-second reaction save.
Mikeltadze then cleared the ball off the line before Perth's Giordano Colli could poke it home.
Glory were missing a host of injured players as well as striker Bruno Fornaroli, who is on Socceroos duty, and gave ALM debuts to three players in a very youthful line-up.
Interim boss Ruben Zadkovich, a former Glory academy coach, praised their efforts.
"If you really think about it, it's actually huge for our club," he said.
"The quality cattle that we've got coming through - I know them well because I've spent hours on the grass in my previous role mentoring and shaping those guys.
"I think it was clear tonight that there's a real bright future for some of those boys."
Newcastle will travel to Brisbane on Sunday without Daniel Penha after the Brazilian received a late red card.
Zadkovich will welcome back Fornaroli, Mitch Oxbrow and Osama Malik for Sunday's trip to Macarthur but said he had no qualms in rewarding his young players with more game time.
"I'm not fearful to play young and inexperienced players," he said. "If they're ready, they're ready."
