Opportunity: Matt Jurman, left, has his work cut out. Photo: Vince Caligiuri
Sydney FC defender Matt Jurman has been waiting all season to get a start – but he knows he will be up against it trying to stop the A-League's newest star, Newcastle's Adam Taggart.
After showing flashes of brilliance in recent years, Taggart has exploded into life in the past three weeks, scoring in the win over Adelaide before bagging a brace against Brisbane Roar and then the season's first hat-trick against Melbourne Heart.
Set to make his first start of the season after Pedj Bojic earned a red card against Wellington Phoenix, Jurman is aware he will have to be at his best to keep the red-hot striker quiet on Saturday night.
“I watched their game on the weekend and saw Adam Taggart score a hat-trick, so it's going to be a good test for us,” Jurman said. “But all the boys are up for it – and if I get a chance, I'll be up for it as well.”
But it's not just 20-year-old Taggart who has the capacity to instil fear into the Sky Blues' rearguard, with Emile Heskey also due to start, making it a pairing capable of being among the league's most damaging.
“They're two good players and at the end of the day, it's up to us to stop them,” Jurman said. “It's going to be a tough game on Saturday, like every game is, but if we turn up then we're a good chance of winning.”
The Sky Blues had no such troubles with Newcastle's front third on the opening night of the season, winning 2-0 at Allianz Stadium.
Both clubs went into relative freefall soon after, with both Sydney coach Frank Farina and Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond under massive fan pressure to quit their respective posts.
However, both clubs have won their past three matches and have zoomed into the top four, giving hope that their early-season troubles were just a minor blip.
“If you look at things a month or so ago, both of us were near the bottom and everyone was writing us off,” Jurman said. “Since then there's been a few good results for both teams. Now we're sitting third [Newcastle] and fourth [Sydney], so it's a big game for both teams and both of us will be pushing the other to the end.”
However, Jurman admitted it could easily take a turn for the worse if his teammates failed to capitalise on this rich vein of form.
“It's funny how quickly a couple of results can change the look of how your season is going,” he said. “The last few weeks have been good, we've got some results and now we need to keep pushing. It's only early in the season so we can't rest now.”
Jurman has been a disappointed onlooker in recent times after signing from Brisbane Roar in the off-season.
He has been behind Seb Ryall, Nikola Petkovic and Tiago Calvano in the pecking order but, with Tiago set to face an extended period on the sideline for obstructing the referee in the 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory and Ryall likely to shift to right-back to cover Bojic, a starting opportunity will finally emerge.
Jurman has at least come of the bench in the past two games, his first appearances in sky blue since returning to Moore Park.
“It's been a bit frustrating but I've come on the past few weeks and we've got some good results as well so it's been good to finally get on the pitch. Hopefully I can keep getting on,” he said. “I've been training hard and all I can do is hope that I get a chance soon. Hopefully then I can prove it on the field.”
Meanwhile, former Sydney FC defender David Carney could be on the lookout for an A-League contract after being cut by New York Red Bulls.
The left-back has scarcely featured for the Socceroos in recent times and would need to play six months of quality football to win his way into coach Ange Postecoglou's World Cup plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment