NEWCASTLE Jets skipper Matt Jurman and key midfielder Angus Thurgate are both due to return from suspension in a timely boost for the squad ahead of Wednesday night's crucial clash with Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBank Stadium.
Jurman and Thurgate were both absent from the weekend's 2-1 loss to Melbourne Victory at home, sidelined for one match each after picking up their fifth yellow cards for the season.
The Jets now face a challenging, but not impossible, task to make the A-League Men's finals for the first time since 2017-18.
Newcastle sit ninth on the competition ladder with 25 points, seven adrift of the top six with five fixtures in hand.
They meet 10th-placed Wanderers (22 points), eighth-placed Central Coast (30) at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, sixth-placed Macarthur (32), second-placed Western United (41) and the Mariners again on May 7 during the run home.
Jets coach Arthur Papas admitted his squad would likely need to win all remaining games, collecting 15 points along the way, in order to feature in the play-offs for 2021-22.
"I don't see a reason why you should put a line through it," Papas said in Saturday night's post-match press conference.
"Irrespective, we've got to back up. We've got a tough week. We've got Wednesday and another game on Saturday. So it's going to be a big week for us.
"The main thing is that they keep their heads up. I thought they performed very well tonight for large, large periods of the game but it still wasn't enough in the end."
Papas said he was hopeful Cameroon import Olivier Boumal would back up against the Wanderers and Mariners this week, having played 71 minutes on his return from a hamstring injury.
"The only one we tried to manage today was Oli Boumal because he'd missed the last couple of games with a hamstring," he said.
"We know how important it is for us, but at the same token we know what Wednesday is and we know what Saturday is.
"With the hamstring as well, the fatigue would probably rule him out on Wednesday if we tried to push him through 95 [minutes]. He could have probably lost the whole season."
The Jets beat Western Sydney 1-0 in Newcastle on February 23. The clubs drew 2-all in their other encounter this season.
