Hannah Brewer believed Newcastle's final four W-League matches were an opportunity to show what they were capable of, starting with Perth in Perth on Monday night.
The long-serving centre-back felt the Jets had underachieved this campaign and did not deserve to be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon for a second year in a row.
Newcastle's finals hopes were extinguished in a 2-1 loss to top-four side Adelaide last round. They are seventh with four points from eight outings and desperate to widen the gap on last-placed Perth, who have one point after six games, before travelling to Melbourne to face eighth-placed City in round 12. City are also on four points.
"We've been unlucky with some results," Brewer said. "We've played some of our best football the last few weeks and just haven't come away with that win, which is obviously disappointing.
"When we review games, there's so many positive moments throughout the games. We definitely could have a couple more wins under our belt this season and the way the draw has panned out it's been a little bit tough on us. We've played a lot of the top-four teams over and over and it's just been a challenging start for us. But that's just how the cookie crumbles.
"It's not an easier end to the season but we're now coming up against teams that we can really compete with."
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Newcastle will be without in-form Jets left-back and co-captain Gema Simon, who did not make the Perth trip due to concussion.
Simon sustained a head knock in the final stages of the game against Adelaide and experienced concussion symptoms early last week. She is expected back for City in round 12.
It will mean a reshuffle of the back four, who have been working well together this campaign. Jets co-captain Cassidy Davis has been playing in the midfield but has experience at the back. Tiana Jaber provides another defensive option.
Attacking midfielder Rhianna Pollicina has returned to the Jets squad after serving a one-match suspension while strikers Jemma House and Evelyn Chronis were left out.
"These games are ones where we can really show our supporters just how much we have to give and the kind of talent that we have at this club this year," Brewer said.
"We can also use these games building to next year, so then we'll have a year under our belt with all of the same girls. These last few games we'll use to get ourselves as high up the table as we can and finish off strong."
The game at Dorrien Gardens in Perth is at 9.35pm AEDT on Monday.
Third-placed Adelaide improved to 19 points with a 2-0 win over league leaders Sydney (24) at Marden Sports Complex on Saturday.
