The Newcastle Jets have seized an A-League top-six position, now they intend to cement their place there.
To do so the Jets must back up their gutsy 1-0 win over Adelaide in scorching conditions in Adelaide on Tuesday night with another three-point performance against Sydney this weekend.
Newcastle, sixth with 12 points, host the 10th-placed Sky Blues (10 points) at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon and Jets defender Carl Jenkinson says they have their sights set on climbing the ladder and securing a finals appearance.
"The first focus is performing well and then results come naturally, but we want to be right up there in general," Jenkinson said.
"It's a results business and our last result was a good one. Now we've got to build on it."
The points table is congested with only five points separating Western Sydney (15) in second place and Western United (10) in 11th.
The result in Adelaide was Newcastle's fourth win of the campaign and first clean sheet in nine outings.
The Jets opened the season with back-to-back wins but have been unable to string together any three-point performances since.
"We've been unfortunate in certain games where we've actually played really well and we've had great spells but maybe we weren't as resilient defensively as we were in the last game," Jenkinson said.
"We took some big steps forward in that sense against Adelaide and that's something we've got to take forward into the next games ... We want to play well consistently. We want to win consistently."
Sydney are chasing their own much-needed victory after losses to Central Coast (2-1) then Macarthur (3-0).
"The whole league is really tight from top to bottom so I don't think we focus too much on who we're playing," Jenkinson said.
"It's more just about focusing on us and making sure we're doing the right things."
Temperatures reached 38 degrees in Adelaide on Tuesday night with some players reportedly losing up to four kilograms.
Jenkinson described it as probably the hottest game he had played in and "a shock to the system for everyone".
"It was difficult to deal with but we done it well enough," he said.
The outing was the Jets' fourth in 16 days and the result ended Adelaide's eight-game unbeaten run at home.
Jenkinson is part of the Jets leadership group, along with Matt Jurman and Brandon O'Neill, and the 30-year-old Englishman wore the captain's armband for the first time in Adelaide, a place which has historically been an unhappy hunting ground for Newcastle.
"It's an honour to be a captain at any club and I really enjoyed it," Jenkinson said.
"I felt like it was a real privilege and I love these lads so to lead them out was very enjoyable."
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
