COACH Gary van Egmond admitted he was glad to have the ‘‘gorilla’’ off his back but warned the Jets faced more testing times, starting with the difficult road trip to Sydney FC.
The Jets will travel to Moore Park in a positive mood after they upset Brisbane Roar 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium to record their first win away from Ausgrid Stadium in more than a year.
‘‘You always take confidence out of a win, especially in a situation when you haven’t won away from home in a while,’’ van Egmond said.
‘‘It was bigger than getting the a monkey off your back. It was more like a gorilla.
‘‘The players have a lot more confidence and there is a better atmosphere around the joint.
‘‘It was good to win but we still know we have a lot of football to play this season.
‘‘We are going to have some testing times between now and the end of the year. For us to get into the six, everyone is going to have to pull together, work hard and get results.’’
The win, which followed a 1-all draw with Adelaide midweek, moved the Jets into seventh place on 22 points, two adrift of tomorrow’s opponents.
The confidence boost could not have come at a better time.
The Jets have taken a solitary point from the past five outings against the Sky Blues. Their one and only victory in Sydney was a 3-1 triumph on November 29, 2009.
In their last encounter at Ausgrid Stadium, the Jets led 1-0 after Jeremy Brockie strike, only to lose 2-1 win.
Van Egmond said they had learned some valuable lessons from the second-half capitulation and would not make the same mistakes.
‘‘First half we controlled the game, but second half we stopped playing,’’ van Egmond said.
‘‘We did not play out from the back. We got involved in knocking the ball long, and we weren’t picking the second ball up. For us it is paramount that we keep playing our game and try and control it.’’
Sydney FC revealed yesterday that championship-wining coach Vitezslav Lavicka would be departing at the end of the season.
There had been speculation around Lavicka’s future for weeks and van Egmond said the announcement could work in one of two ways.
‘‘It can be disruptive and it can galvanise a team as well,’’ he said. ‘‘They are in the top six at present and will be looking to prove a point.
‘‘They know the coach is not going to be there next season. People are on notice that they have to do well between now and the end of the year to stay at the club.
‘‘As I said it can work either way. We have to worry about things we can control.
‘‘We have been doing that on the training track.’’
Sydney has been caught up in the big wet which has soaked most of the state.
The Jets trained in sloshy conditions yesterday and van Egmond believed similar condition tomorrow could help work in their favour.
‘‘It is not a bad thing,’’ he said. ‘‘In some ways [the water] speeds the pitch up.
‘‘That increases the ball speed and tests people’s touch. Technically we have a good bunch so I don’t see that being a hindrance to our team.
‘‘I’d like to see the pitch watered before every home game and get the game as quick as possible.
‘‘That is what we are working towards, a high-tempo game and playing at a speed which is uncomfortable for the opposition.’’
Sydney have lost right midfielder Brett Emerton to a hamstring strain.
Forgotten midfielder Hirofumi Moriyasu, who provided plenty of energy when he replaced Emerton in the first half of last week’s 2-2 draw against Melbourne Victory, is in line to replace again.
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