The Wanderers could welcome back Santalab who was sidelined for three games after his raised forearm on Brisbane Roar captain Matt McKay before Christmas.

Santa shown an early Christmas card by Kris Griffith-Jones

Popovic indicated the forward could start against the Jets.

“Brendon's quality, we can’t forget that and he’s scored a lot of goals for a player that hasn’t played much this year,” Popovic said.

“He was as we were, disappointed with the reason he missed those three games. We don’t want him to lose that passion and aggression, but he’s got to do it in a more controlled manner. If he does that, he’s proven time again he can cause problems to anyone.”

The Wanderers are still yet to win at home this season and play Newcastle at Campbelltown Stadium on Sunday.

The club has alternated between ANZ Stadium and Spotless Stadium this season as they wait for Parramatta’s redevelopment to be completed.

Popovic admits his team has struggled to call a place home after the relentless alternating between stadiums this season.

“We need that home win, it doesn’t feel like home this year with the amount of different stadiums we’re at,” he said.

“That’s something we have to get the better of and we know we’ll be doing it for the next couple of years at least.

“So it’d be nice to start in Campbelltown now and win that first home game and hopefully go from there.”

Popovic said his charge Andrew Nabbout could be a key danger man after impressing for his new side this season.

Nabbout continues to impress this season

But the Wanderers coach remained positive and took confidence from the 0-0 draw with Sydney FC last week.

“He’s (Nabbout) been fantastic, I went to watch them live last week and he was dangerous throughout the whole match,” Popovic said.

“Not just him but you can see in general, in that front third that they’re very dangerous and they’re a solid team.

“You can see they have some confidence, I’m sure they’ll come with the belief they can get a result, but in our team, which I know a lot more closely, I’ve seen a team which played against Sydney FC and matched it with the best team so far.

“Against an undefeated team, you wouldn’t really have seen much difference between the two. Now we have to build on that, and we really want to win this match. If we can improve on that performance I expect us to win.”