JETS coach Arthur Papas remains adamant his team are on the right track despite a 3-0 loss to Central Coast on Wednesday night that again exposed their defensive shortcomings.
After a bright start to the season that delivered wins in their first two games, Newcastle have now lost five of their past six fixtures, sliding to 10th on the A-League points table.
They are still only a point behind the top six, however, and with 18 games left in this campaign, would appear to have ample opportunity to qualify for the play-offs for the first time since 2017-18.
But it is hard to imagine that happening unless Newcastle can reduce the number of goals they are conceding.
In eight games this season, the Jets have been outscored 15-8 and their minus-seven goal differential is the worst in the A-League.
Only defending champions Western United (18 goals) have been breached more often.
It was a similar story last season - Papas' first year in the hot seat - when Newcastle scored the third-most goals (45) of any team in the preliminary rounds, only to concede 43 and eventually finish ninth, 10 points adrift of the play-off positions.
Disappointed as he was about the derby defeat in Gosford, Papas was showing no signs of panic.
"Out of 15 goals, 50 per cent have come in two games, and the other 50 per cent are across six games," he said.
"So I don't think fundamentally that's consistency across all games.
"There's two games where we've been hurt and hurt properly, and tonight's one of them. In the end, we've got to get better at what we do every day.
"It first starts with the ability to compete under pressure with the ball.
"If you've got a front line that are all having around 60 per cent accuracy with their passing, well, every team is going to be able to expose you on transition, because you're giving it up too easily.
Papas described Wednesday night's result as "a thief", because the scoreline suggested an overall poor performance, whereas he argued lapses in "key moments" cost his team.
He denied Newcastle's recent slide down the ladder was a concern.
"As it stands, we're one point outside the six," he said.
"If we're talking about a Newcastle Jets team that after eight games are one point outside the six, I think we'd all embrace that.
"The reality of the league is that it's very tight. You can be last place or you can be fourth place within one game.
"That's the reality of this league. It's very even. We were here 10 days ago and we won, and everyone was saying how good we were.
"Well, we haven't fundamentally changed."
Papas was frustrated that co-captain Brandon O'Neill missed the game with a knee injury he sustained in Newcastle's 1-0 loss to Brisbane last Friday, on a pitch Brisbane Roar coach Warren Moon described as a "cow paddock".
The Jets next face fourth-placed Adelaide at Coopers Stadium on Tuesday.
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