Newcastle Jets make pitch to keep Roy O’Donovan on board

Newcastle Jets have made their sales pitch to keep Irish striker Roy O’Donovan on board.

Newcastle striker Roy O'Donovan is considering an offer put to him by the Jets. Picture: Getty Images

Newcastle Jets have made their sales pitch to Irish striker Roy O’Donovan ahead of Saturday’s A-League clash with Western Sydney Wanderers.

The Jets have tabled a one-year contract extension to O’Donovan as coach Ernie Merrick looks to build a platform for next season.

“I’m in negotiations with the club as we speak,” 33-year-old O’Donovan said on Friday.

“I have made my demands, they have given me a list of demands so … if we can meet somewhere in the middle, then great.

“It’s an ongoing process at the moment.”

Seventh-placed Newcastle maintain a mathematical chance of making the finals if they beat the eighth-placed Wanderers. But Merrick in midweek wrote off a miraculous sequence of other results falling their way.

“When you’re in a situation of waiting for other teams to lose matches, I don’t think you’re in a good place,” Merrick said.

“I can’t see anyone losing that many games, two more games than us.

“So I don’t think we’re going to make the finals and we’re very disappointed by that.” Instead, the veteran manager wants O’Donovan to join 17 other players already committed to staying in Newcastle. Other off-contract Jets include marquee Ronny Vargas and Brazilian winger Jair.

The Jets hold a three-point break on the ladder from the Wanderers, and haven’t lost to the Western Sydney side in their last five encounters, with three wins and two draws. The Wanderers, though, are unbeaten in their last six fixtures, with four wins from those six games, including two on the road.

But both teams are lamenting a season of missed opportunity: Newcastle have had more total shots than any other club, with the Wanderers next best.

The Jets have scored 29 goals from 387 shots and the Wanderers have scored 38 from 362.

AAP