On a run of three straight losses, Adelaide United boss Carl Veart knows his hopes of getting his side's A-League Men campaign back on track will hinge on their ability to halt in-form Newcastle striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.
The Reds host the Jets on Friday with Stamatelopoulos in red-hot form since touching down in Newcastle for the 2023/24 season.
The former Adelaide forward has hit some electrifying form for Rob Stanton's side, scoring seven goals across seven games.
"AP is a good kid and it's good to see him come back to the A-League and do well," Veart said of Stamatelopoulos.
"I've always had a lot of time for him, I worked with him when he was a young player.
"It's good to see him scoring goals (but) hopefully he doesn't find the back of the net this weekend."
Stamatelopoulos' form doesn't bode well for Adelaide, who haven't kept a clean sheet in nearly two months and are poised to lose goalkeeper Joe Gauci to the Socceroos' Asian Cup squad.
The Reds have lost three consecutive games for the first time in two years, but Veart - who will continue to take a cautious approach with Nestory Irankunda after benching the precocious 17-year-old last week - believes his side aren't far from turning a corner.
"We've had the extra session on the training track this week," Veart said.
"The boys are really sharp and looking forward to putting on a good performance on Friday night.
"Josh Cavallo is ready to be selected and Harry van der Saag is not too far away.
"These are good players to have coming back, especially with the amount of games we have over the next three to four weeks."
Former Adelaide defender Stefan Mauk has been training with the club following the end of the Japanese season, in which he turned out for Fagiano Okayama.
Veart said there was no concrete offer on the table for Mauk but said the door would remain open for him if he wanted to return to the ALM.
"Stef is a quality player and he's a great leader," Veart said.
"He knows what he's got here. If that develops then we'd be happy for it to happen, but Stefan has to do what's best for him."
