Ruben Zadkovich has hailed the character of his squad after an undermanned Perth Glory twice came from behind to steal a late 2-2 A-League Men draw with Newcastle.
After losing leading goalscorer David Williams to a calf strain in their final training session, Glory were dealt a further blow on Saturday morning when captain Mustafa Amini was ruled out with illness.
Nonetheless, Glory were twice able to erase Jets' leads at McDonald Jones Stadium, with Trent Ostler's 52nd minute header cancelling out Trent Buhagiar's opener in the 36th and Ryan Williams answering Kosta Grozos' 79th minute strike with a last-second leveller.
"It was backs against the wall for us today," Zadkovich told Paramount.
"We lost our leading goalscorer David Williams in our last training session with a slight strain, then we lost our captain to a vomiting bug.
"That bug went through the team a little bit and a few other boys were carrying it so there were a lot of fatigued bodies and tied legs out there.
"Given the context of all those things, I thought we showed great character amidst adversity and showed great belief to come back from being down twice.
"It's another testament to the character that's in my dressing room."
But while Zadkovich praised the resilience of his team, Jets' coach Arthur Papas was once again left ruing defensive errors that cost his side at the vital moment.
Both Ostler and Ryan Williams' goals were delivered via corners, with a sea of Jets' shirts unable to prevent the former from winning a simple header at the far post and none able to contain the latter's darting near post run.
It was yet another fixture in which defensive brain fades cost the Novocastrians, who have conceded the third-most goals in the ALM this season.
"(It's) disappointing to concede off two set-pieces because apart from that there hasn't been too much in it," Jets coach Arthur Papas told Paramount.
"For us it's a disappointment, drawing a game that for them, they felt like they won a grand final."
The Jets and Glory remaining seventh and ninth respectively, Western United's loss to Brisbane in a simultaneous Saturday afternoon kickoff.
It means that sides placed sixth through to 10th on the ALM table will be separated by no more than six points with five games remaining in their seasons.
