JETS coach Craig Deans has queried the tackle that forced Jason Hoffman out of Thursday's season-opening loss to Central Coast Mariners and threatens to sideline him for at least another game.
Hoffman limped off with a calf injury after a sixth-minute challenge from Mariners midfielder Oliver Bozanic and will need to recover rapidly to feature in Friday's grudge match against Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The veteran was confident yesterday that "it's not a big injury", and he will be assessed by Newcastle's support staff at training.
Deans said he was surprised that Bozanic escaped any punishment from the match officials.
"I didn't see it at first, live, but then I saw the replay," Deans said.
"I asked the question of whether it was being looked at, because I thought, in the end, when you looked at the replay, it was a pretty poor challenge.
It was a pretty poor challenge.
CRAIG DEANS
"But the referees decided it was OK, so look, that's the way the cookie crumbles.
"We lost Hoffy, so it cost us a player, but having said that, I thought young Lucas Mauragis came on and played really, really well ... I thought he was outstanding."
In the absence of Hoffman, Deans would welcome the return of Johnny Koutroumbis, but he appears unlikely to recover from an ankle injury in time to face the Wanderers.
"Ideally we'd like one of Johnny or Hoffy available, but it's not going to happen, so we adapt," Deans said.
Newcastle will be boosted by the availability of skipper Nigel Boogaard after completing a suspension.
Deans said the 1-0 loss to the three-time wooden spooners was "not all doom and gloom", arguing the Jets deserved to head back up the M1 with at least one competition point.
"Obviously it's not the start we wanted," Deans said. "We wanted to come here and win the game.
"I thought we had enough opportunities to score enough goals to definitely not lose the game, so we're very disappointed with that ... I thought we played some good football at times.
"We had enough of the ball in good areas to get something out of the game ... I don't think it was a bad performance, I don't think there was a bad player. We just let ourselves down at a crucial point."
Deans appeared to bristle when asked by a journalist about Newcastle's unresolved ownership impasse.
"We had one conversation about it in the pre-season," Deans said. "We haven't spoken about it since.
"There's no point talking about it ... the only motivation we have is to play a football game and win it, and that's what we came here for today, and that's what we'll do against Western Sydney next week."
Mariners coach Alen Stajcic said his club was "settled and stable ... I think some of that showed on the pitch".
