They may have suffered another AFC Champions League Elite loss on Tuesday night but Newcastle Jets boss Mark Milligan says his side can take plenty of positives from the 3-1 defeat to Gamba Osaka.
Despite the Japanese side dominating the opening stages it was the Jets who took the lead at McDonald Jones Stadium, with Greek striker Nikos Vergos bagging the opener in the 31st minute.
However, inspired by former Jets star Eli Adams, Gamba Osaka recovered well and were level before the break care of a header from Yusei Toshia and while the Jets did have one cleared off the line from Daniel Wilmering in the second half, Gamba then moved through the gears.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE 2026/27 A-LEAGUE MEN SEASON
After crossing for the equaliser Adams then got his second assist of the night as he played substitute Deniz Hummet through on goal and the Turkish forward did the rest, slotting the ball beyond James Delianov to make it 2-1 before Brazilian Welton scored a stunner to make it 3-1 late in the game.
“More than confidence,” Milligan said when asked what he and his side would take from the defeat.
“I’m not stacking [it] up against [Kashima] Antlers. I’m stacking it off what happened today. I knew we would have a good 75 in us because that’s where we’re at.
“We haven’t played a competitive game other than the Antlers game, and I think for 75 minutes we were fantastic.
“We really worked hard, and we started to see clearly the identity of this team against a very good Gamba side. So again, I’m extremely proud of what we did.
“We had opportunities there to go ahead again in the second half, and those goals change games. You know that gives maybe a bit more energy to the group to get through that last period. But again, overall, I’m very proud of of the performance tonight.
“But proud doesn’t make us a better team. Their effort tonight makes us a better team.”
TRANSFER CENTRE: A-League Men 2026/27 Transfer Centre: Your club’s moves
NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 13: Nikolaos Vergos of the Newcastle Jets celebrates a goal with teammates during the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite East Region League Stage match between Newcastle Jets and Gamba Osaka at Newcastle International Sports Centre on October 13, 2026 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Milligan now turns his attention to his side’s 2026/27 A-League Men season opener against Central Coast Mariners, with the Jets travelling down the freeway to face their rivals at polytec Stadium on Saturday night.
“I can’t wait because it’s been a hell of a pre-season. It’s very, very difficult to try to prepare for the intensity of these matches, especially when you draw five Japanese teams in a group of nine.
NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 13: Max Burgess of the Newcastle Jets competes for the ball with Issam Jebali of Gamba Osaka during the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite East Region League Stage match between Newcastle Jets and Gamba Osaka at Newcastle International Sports Centre on October 13, 2026 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
“So to start the way that we have, it was always going to be difficult, but now to get regular football and regular minutes into these players, and that’s sort of where we’re at. That’s what we need to continue this growth.
He added: “Our season ultimately started a few weeks ago, even be it playing training games, but that was the mentality we had to take. We’ll see how everyone pulls up tomorrow.
“The way that we tried to design the squad was that we could have players step in to play on short turnarounds, and that’s what will happen. We’ll use the squad.
“So we’ll put up as fresh a team as possible and a team that’s going to go out on Saturday and win a game.
“The depth is, I think, as good as it can be in terms of what we’re working with, and I think we’ll be better again come our next ACL game.”
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE 2026/27 A-LEAGUE MEN SEASON
