Roar are denied the services of big name signings Craig Moore and Danny Tiatto through suspension for this Sunday’s trip to Newcastle.

Also out is Korean Hyuk-Su Seo who will serve the final game of his two-match ban this weekend, making him eligible to return for next Thursday’s home clash against Central Coast Mariners.

Now Farina will call on club stalwarts Josh McCloughan and Andrew Packer to step into the breach as his side looks for their first win of the season.

Farina today admitted he didn’t expect to have the depth of his squad tested so early in the campaign.

But he was confident the players he selected would be good enough to get a result in Newcastle.

Big defender Sasa Ognenovski suffered a late injury scare in training this morning after twisting his ankle, but according to the Roar boss, he will be given until the last minute before a decision is made on him playing.

“Big Sasa has just rolled his ankle and we’ll wait until tomorrow morning to see whether he’ll travel,” Farina said.

“Josh McCloughan will come straight back into the squad and Stuart McLaren will remain in there too.

"Andy Packer is looking good; he’s not ready for 90 minutes - there’s no doubt about that, it would be too much of a risk trying to do that - but he’s training well and got through all this week so he’ll be part of the squad as well."

He added: “When we were looking at signing players at the beginning of the year one of the key things was making sure we had depth and we need it at the moment, but I’m still comfortable.

"As much as I’m not happy about missing players I’m still comfortable with what we’ve got and I know they’ll do a good job.”

The Jets/Roar fixture is one of the A-League’s most peculiar with the away team registering wins in all six previous meetings of the two sides.

In last season’s encounter Brazilian striker Reinaldo and Scotsman Simon Lynch both found the back of the net in a 3-2 win and the pair are expected to renew their partnership on Sunday.

Roar’s other Brazilian playmaker, Marcinho, will be all the better for his run in the opening fixture last weekend and young midfielder Mitch Nichols has served his one-match suspension and is back in contention for a squad place.

Farina will leave final selection of the travelling party until Saturday morning, but reliable defender McCloughan is delighted to be a certain inclusion.

“I didn’t enjoy sitting on the sidelines last week so I’m looking forward to playing," said McCloughan.

"Frank brought in some quality players in the off-season so the competition for places is very tough.

"If you want to do anything in this league you need a strong squad and that’s what we’ve assembled this year.”

He added: “Like everyone else I want to play and after last week my hunger is stronger than ever.

"Sometimes you have to be left out to realise how much you want to play.”