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AAP
AAP
Sport
Lee Gagliardi

No limit for Newcastle in the ALM: Papas

Jaushua Sotirio (l) scored the winner at Adelaide to lift Newcastle five places up the ALM ladder. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Newcastle coach Arthur Papas says there is plenty more to come from his side after the Jets jumped five places in the A-League Men standings with a 1-0 win over Adelaide United.

The Jets occupied 11th spot heading into the clash, with Tuesday's victory lifting them to sixth - level on 12 points with the fifth-placed Reds.

A well-worked goal, courtesy of a heavily deflected shot from Jaushua Sotirio on 25 minutes, was enough to seal the win for Newcastle.

With just five points separating second place and second-bottom, Papas is hopeful the victory will generate some momentum for the Jets.

"There's no limit for what the group can achieve," he said after the match.

"I still believe that and I've maintained that prior to this result.

"(The win is) positive, but it's just another game - the league is too tight.

"You lose one game you end up in 11th, you win one game you end up in sixth - that just tells you how even the league is."

The two sides battled through oppressive conditions, with the temperature at a sweltering 38C when the match kicked-off at 7.45pm in Adelaide.

Officials employed drinks breaks every 15 minutes, with Papas revealing the Jets trained accordingly.

It proved a masterstroke, with Newcastle wrestling control of the match from Adelaide following the first drinks break after the Reds had started the stronger.

"We trained (for) the (drinks) breaks, because from a week ago there was a chance that this was going to be the weather in Adelaide," Papas said.

"We knew we had to work for 15-minute blocks. We didn't think about 45 minutes, we thought about 15-minute blocks.

"One of the strategies was to make sure we got our sports scientist guys onto the players immediately (during the breaks).

"We got around them, explained ... what's the first action we want to achieve from the restart - whether it was a goal kick, a free kick, a throw in - and to try to win those moments."

While Newcastle benefited from the first break, Reds coach Carl Veart admitted the stoppage halted United's early dominance.

"The first drinks break in the first half came at a bad time," he said.

"We were pushing the game and it gave a bit of respite for them."

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