Newcastle has made a brilliant start to the 2017/2018 campaign with just one loss from its first seven games. The Jets currently sit in second place on the ladder, two points behind Sydney FC.

Currently the club is without key players Ronny Vargas, Daniel Georgievski, Jack Duncan and Roy O'Donovan because of injury.

Merrick wants his side to push on and improve.

"I'm hoping they're going to get better," he told FourFourTwo.

"I wouldn't say at this point we're definitely a top four team at this point. We're playing well enough to make the finals but we have to be a lot more consistent to have a strong team this year.

"We really do need a couple of players to add to our squad. We're coping at the moment but we're pretty light on. Any more injuries or suspensions will put us in trouble."

Merrick confirmed the Jets will wait until the January transfer window to make signings, and that Socceroo Nathan Burns is not in his sights.

"We'll definitely have a look around in the January window when players become available," he said.

"There's no one at the moment. We'll wait for the January window to see what crops out. We're looking for a different type of player [than Burns] all together."