THE Newcastle Jets will restart their A-League campaign on the road to leaders Sydney FC on July 21 and caretaker coach Craig Deans is confident they will be primed to go.
The Jets trained together on Wednesday for the first time since the competition was suspended on March 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They have just under five weeks to prepare for the Sky Blues, the first of four games remaining to complete the regular season. They meet the Central Coast on July 24, before consecutive home games against Western United (August 3) and Wellington (August 11). The derby is also a chance of being played in Newcastle.
Deans is overseeing training until coach Carl Robinson (Canada) and assistants Kenny Miller (Scotland) and Darren Bazeley (New Zealand) return to Australia and spend two weeks in isolation.
"They have all had their individual programs but it has been difficult to monitor everyone," Deans said. "They were all pretty good and got through the session without any problems."
The squad worked at about 80 per cent capacity during the 90-minute session.
"We have had a lot of rain in the past fortnight and the pitch was heavy," Deans said. "The first three days we will get everyone through the session and not push them to their maximum. From next week, we will start stepping it up every day.
"The ball was out straight away during the warm-up. We did some passing, small-sided games and then we finished with a bigger game.
"We did enough to get them fatigued without pushing them over the edge. The last thing we want is to get any injuries in the next two weeks.
"It has probably been the longest they have gone without a proper training session since they were kids."
As well as Deans, youth team coach Daniel McBreen, goalkeeping coach Chris Bowling and the medical staff were on hand.
"Carl has sent through the things he wants us to do," Deans said. "The players know what he wants from a football point of view.
"We have two-to-three weeks to get the fitness levels back to where they need to be so that when he gets here, he can start working more on the tactical side of things.
"It is pretty much a mini preseason. They have to get match fit pretty quickly. Then Carl gets a couple of weeks to go through the ins and outs of what he wants from a football perspective."
The session was also the first under new strict training protocols.
"They come in fully kitted out and can be in the physio room one at a time," Deans said. "The players were given a bib at the start of the session. They have to take it home and wash it. Same with their training gear and drink bottles. They aren't allowed to touch the equipment,
"They get recovery options each day they can do at home based on how hard the session is. It's a lot of responsibility back on the players, which is the first time for a lot of them."
"When you are discussing things, you have to be mindful to keep your distance. The players can't touch any of the equipment, the goals, mannequins, cones ... the staff are putting everything out and cleaning it up.
"They get recovery options each day they can do based on how hard the session is. It's a lot of responsibility back on the players, which is the first time for a lot of them."
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