Gold Coast Knights coach Grae Piddick says emotional comedown from FFA Cup could be an issue

GOLD Coast Knights coach Grae Piddick speaks after his side’s historic FFA Cup run came to an end with a heartbreaking loss to A-League grand finalists Newcastle.

THE emotional comedown from their historic FFA Cup run now looms as the most immediate threat for the Gold Coast Knights as they turn their attention to the Premier League double that eluded them last season.

Downed 1-0 by A-League grand finalists Newcastle in the club’s first Round of 32 cup appearance on Tuesday night, the newly-crowned Premier League champions will travel to Murwillumbah in the local competition’s penultimate round on Saturday.

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Gold Coast Knights’ Justyn McKay (right) battles Newcastle’s Kosta Petratos. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

With top spot already secure for the second-straight year, coach Grae Piddick admitted the 3pm trip to Jim Devine Field shaped as a dangerous one following a mentally and physically draining battle with the Jets.

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“The challenge for my boys now is to go to Murwillumbah on Saturday where you can’t fit in the change rooms and your vegetable patch is probably a better pitch. They’ve got to now get themselves up for that,” Piddick, who was coaching a side in the Round of 32 for the fourth time, said.

Knights fans watch on at Cbus Stadium on Tuesday night. Picture: Dave Hunt/AAP

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“It’s unusual to be saying this but (the Newcastle game) is probably one that got away. The boys played very, very well … and did everything they possibly could to win the game bar take a few chances.

“We were well in the game for the whole game. It is a bit of a downer from a result point of view but they’ve got to get themselves up again to go in the league.”

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