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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Sport

Skipper says it's time for Jets to deliver

Newcastle Jets co-captain Brandon O'Neill. Picture AAP

CO-CAPTAIN Brandon O'Neill says it is time for the Newcastle Jets to deliver.

And the two-time A-League championship-winner has no doubt they will.

The Jets sit in eighth spot on 26 points, two points adrift of sixth-placed Sydney FC, with four rounds remaining.

Incredibly, only five points separate the Sky Blues from cellar dwellers Brisbane.

The Jets face the Roar at Kayo Stadium on Saturday.

After giving up equalisers in stoppage time against Perth and Melbourne City, the Jets must return from Queensland with three points to kick start their push for the play-offs.

"If we had won the past couple of games, we would well and truly be inside the top six now, which is frustrating," O'Neill said on Wednesday.

"But as a group we can only look forward. In the last four games of the season, we want four wins. That is what we are aiming towards.

"If that [training] session is anything to go by, we are in for a very good last four weeks, playing our football and making a charge into the finals.

"It can't be that we should have won against Perth or we should have won against Melbourne City. It has to be three points, thanks very much, we move on to the next week. All of a sudden, we win all those games and we are the form team going into the finals. I don't think many teams will want to play us."

After Brisbane, the Jets have consecutive home games against Macarthur (25 points) and Central Coast (34) before finishing the regular season away to Sydney (28).

The Jets will most likely need to collect nine points to feature in the post-season.

"I think there are two things we really need to zone in on," O'Neill said. "Number one, is sticking true to who we are. Play the football we do every single day, no matter if we are 1-0 up, 2-0 up, 3-1 up, 4-1 down. Whatever the circumstance, our football will get us results. Secondly, in those key moments, we have to win them. In the past couple of weeks our key moments and the winning percentage, we have been on the wrong end. You marry those two together and the rest will take care of itself."

The Jets accounted for Brisbane 4-0 in their previous encounter at McDonald Jones Stadium on January 27. After a scoreless opening 50 minutes, the Jets found their groove with goals to Jaushua Sotirio, Trent Buhagiar, Beka Mikeltadze and Archie Goodwin.

"I sat in the stands and thought 'Oh my God we are on'," said O'Neill, who was recovering from a knee injury and missed the match. "Throughout the year we have had periods where we are gaining towards something pretty good. Now it is about putting it all together.

"Brisbane this weekend, is our only focus. We action it against them - stick true to how we go about our football and make sure we win our big moments. Then we do it against Macarthur, we do it against Central Coast and then we finish strongly against Sydney FC. Who knows where we end up in the six, but we will be there."

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