Head-to-head
Matches 1: Draws 1

Previous Meeting
Newcastle Jets 1, Melbourne Heart 1, EnergyAustralia Stadium, August 2010

History
These teams have already squared off once this season, with Melbourne Heart getting a fortunate point thanks to an own goal from Ben Kantarovski which would rate as one of the best strikes you would ever see if only he hadn't been aiming at his own net. Of course, Heart utility Matt Thompson captained the Jets before moving this season, adding some spice to this one

Past five matches:
Newcastle Jets: DDLWL
Melbourne Heart: DDWLW

Match Committee
Newcastle get back important defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley after a few weeks on the sidelines, while Ben Kantarovski, who scored that memorable own goal the last time these two teams met, is back from Young Socceroos duty in China. Jeremy Brockie is out injured for six to eight weeks with a broken foot.

Heart get back Dean Heffernan after he was a late withdrawal last week and Alex Terra, while Gerald Sibon has served his suspension and is also back. John Aloisi and Brendan Hamill remain sidelined. Mystery remains over whether Simon Colosimo will come back into the starting XI after being a surprising omission last week.

Danger men
Labinot Haliti - Newcastle haven't scored a goal in the A-League for over a month and the last man to do it was Haliti. The mercurial striker has a habit of bobbing up at key moments and given the Jets have managed just five goals in nine games this season, they could do with one of his shirtless specials.

Josip Skoko - After having an injury-interrupted start to the season, Skoko is starting to put a few matches together and is very much looking the goods. His quality shines through for
Heart and they need him directing traffic well from the back to be at their best.

At the end of the day….
The Jets were supposed to play mid-week but that match was called off because the stadium owners thought it would be a good idea to let some motorbike riders tear up the pitch a couple of weeks ago. Unsurprisingly, it didn't come up and as a result, the match against Fury was postponed and they've moved this clash to Port Macquarie.

That may negate any home advantage the Jets would have had coming into this one. Heart have been poor on the road with just two points away this season, but one of those was against the Jets.

The extra trip up the Pacific Highway - about two and half hours on a bus - won't please John van 't Schip's men but they can turn this to their advantage by putting the pressure on the Jets in unfamiliar surrounds.

While Heart like to play fast flowing football on the deck, the Jets have shown a reluctance to demonstrate anything approaching attacking football. They have good attacking players, but seem to be happy to sit back and absorb pressure.

This should suit Heart, who will be able to use their width to get forward and cause some problems. They just need to show some teeth in front of goal, something they sadly lacked against Gold Coast last week.

Newcastle Jets squad: 1. Ben KENNEDY (gk), 2. Taylor REGAN, 3. Adam D’APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR STANLEY, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC (C), 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI 7. Kasey WEHRMAN, 9. Zhang SHUO, 10. Ruben ZADKOVICH, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 13. Sasho PETROVSKI, 14. Labinot HALITI, 15. Sean ROONEY 17. Marcello FIORENTINI, 18. Marko JESIC, 19. Ali ABASS, 22.Kaz PATAFTA 40. Matthew NASH  *three to be omitted*
In:  Nikolai TOPOR STANLEY (returns from injury), Ben KANTAROVSKI (returns from international duty).
Out:  Jeremy BROCKIE, 
Unavailable: Neil YOUNG (illness – indefinite), Michael Bridges (Knee - six weeks), Jobe WHEELHOUSE (Hip - indefinite),  Brodie MOOY (Shin Splints - indefinite), Jeremy BROCKIE (Broken foot - 6 to 8 weeks)

Melbourne Heart squad: 1.Clint BOLTON, 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5.Michael BEAUCHAMP, 6.Matt THOMPSON, 7.Rutger WORM, 9.Gerald SIBON, 10.Wayne SRHOJ, 11.Alex TERRA, 12.Peter ZOIS, 17. Jason HOFFMAN, 19.Eli BABALJ, 20.Josip SKOKO, 21.Kliment TASESKI. 22.Nick KALMAR, 23.Dean HEFFERNAN, 24.Aziz BEHICH, 25.Adrian ZAHRA *two to be omitted*
In: Dean HEFFERNAN (returns from injury), Alex TERRA (returns from injury)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Brendan HAMILL (ankle – 3 weeks), Kristian SARKIES (broken leg – 5 weeks), John ALOISI (knee – 1 week)