Wales has only made two A-League appearances in his fledgling career, both coming off the bench.

The 20-year-old got four minutes in his debut game in round 27 last season and then came on against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Saturday.

Wales set up a goal for Blake Powell in a solid 20-minute second half cameo, helping Central Coast to a 1-1 draw.

Okon has yet to name his team for the derby clash with Newcastle and could hand the winger a start.

"Lachie's available for selection," he said.

"He was great. It was no surprise to us, we know what he can deliver, what he's capable of. His impact off the bench and also Blake's came at a time when we needed a little bit more energy and it worked out for us.

"We're unsure what the starting line-up's going to be right now but Lachie's certainly put his hand up. If he starts, we've got full confidence in him. And if he comes off the bench again we've already seen what he's capable of.

"It's certainly not going to be about one player, it will be about the squad. More so in this period. We're comfortable with the contribution of everyone."

The Mariners are missing three players on Olyroos duty and are in the middle of a spell of three games in just eight days.

Okon admits it is a difficult spell for the club.

"It's a really tough period," he said.

"A lot of games in a short space of time with travel, with heat. The A-League is a special competition for it. We worked hard in pre-season and you work hard for these sort of periods where you know that you're going to have a number of games in a short space of time.

"We are missing three players through national team duty so... we're not going to make too much noise about it or focus on it. It is what it is and every team has to deal with it.

Okon doesn't believe the absence of former Mariners striker Roy O'Donovan for the Jets will have much bearing on the game.

"Roy's been missing for a few weeks now and Andrew Nabbout's done a great job," the coach said.

"They still have threats up front and we're aware of it. We'll go there to try and win the football game. It's a special game, obviously. We saw that in round one. No one wants to let anyone down.

"There's a number of areas where we need to improve. A few things, when we have the ball and when we don't have the ball. We're always looking to be better."

The last time the two teams met this season Newcastle prevailed in a 5-1 rout.

Despite the scoreline, Okon feels the Mariners "didn't do too much wrong" in the last F3 Derby.

"We're not really looking back to round one," he said.

"On that night we felt we didn't do too much wrong, we just got caught out in certain moments of the game. It's a tough game, regardless of where we sit or Newcastle sits on the ladder. It's a derby and we're looking forward to it.

"I think we can sense there's a bit of niggle, a bit of fight back in the derby, which is what everyone wanted at the start of the season. Hopefully this time we come out as winners."