As a defender Taren King is unhappy about the amount of goals Newcastle have already leaked this campaign.
While the last line of defence can not take sole blame for an A-League Women's worst defensive effort of 18 goals in six appearances, the 26-year-old is determined to drive a steelier effort from the back against one of the competition's most miserly sides.
The Jets host Adelaide at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday and will be desperate for a win after three consecutive losses, in which they have conceded 12 goals.
By comparison, the Reds have leaked only two goals, both in stoppage time in their only loss of the season. They have recorded clean sheets in their four other appearances while the Jets are yet to produce one.
"[Preventing goals] is obviously a defender's job and it's probably a good marker on how well the defence is doing specifically, but it comes down to the whole team at the end of the day," King said.
"We all defend together and we all attack together but there's definitely a lot of onus on the backline and communicating as a whole.
"It hasn't been the best marker for us but we're definitely getting better and we've been working on it a lot over the last few weeks and I'm positive it's going to come good this weekend."
Newcastle slipped to ninth position on four points after Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry produced a match double and proved the difference in a 2-0 loss to Brisbane at No.2 Sportsground last round.
Meanwhile, Adelaide are fourth with 12 points and caught in a three-way tie for second spot with Western United and Sydney.
"This week will be huge," King said.
"We'll be hoping to bounce back from the last few losses and really make a mark and I guess restart our form and start getting on a bit of a roll. Adelaide, for me, are probably the team to beat. They're probably the best whole team, even on the their bench, so if we can get a win against them we can probably beat anyone."
The Jets will need to fire after failing to hit the back of the net for the first time last round. They have scored 10 goals, twice as many as the Reds.
King believes the Jets will benefit from a short refresh over Christmas with two days off before returning to training on Monday.
They had been scheduled to play Western United in Melbourne midweek but the match was postponed due to predicted extreme heat.
"We probably needed that, getting back around the family and having a few days off to just get our bodies back in check because there's a few niggles around," King said.
"It's definitely been a positive for us."
King personally benefited after a knee injury hampered her pre-season.
"I've done it twice in the last six months so it was trying to be cautious coming back and I missed most of pre-season," she said.
"It's been hard to get back into the swing of things but I'm feeling a lot more confident."
Attacking midfielder Murphy Agnew (hip, back) and right-back Tessa Tamplin (leg) are sidelined by injury but experienced striker Tara Andrews is set to feature this weekend after being a late withdrawal for the Roar match due to illness.
Coach Ash Wilson conceded the loss of Agnew was a blow but remained confident others could fill the void.
"We had Sarah [Griffith] come into the midfield last week when Murphy was off, Ash Brodigan can play in there, Tara can play in there," Wilson said. "We've got a lot of options around that midfield front three space."
Kick-off is at 3pm.
Also on Saturday, Victory play Canberra and Roar are at home to Sydney. On Sunday, Perth host Western United.
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