Emile Heskey has been in sublime goal-scoring form for the Newcastle Jets. Source: The Daily Telegraph
EMILE Heskey's radar-like finishing qualities see him sitting atop the A-League's scoring list with four goals in as many games.
The question is this: is Heskey the man to finally break the Newcastle Jets' goal drought in the west?
The Jets take on Perth Glory tonight having not found the back of the net in their past four appearances at nib Stadium.
Their dearth of goals is reflected in their poor overall record of just one win from nine appearances in Perth.
Adding to the challenge, Perth are yet to concede a goal at home this season.
Hardly statistics to inspire confidence in the Jets camp.
But the club hasn't had a striker of Heskey's quality make the trip before and no one could argue the former English international hasn't hit the ground running since arriving in Australia.
He missed out in his debut against Adelaide a month ago but then scored in wins over Sydney and Central Coast.
Heskey goes into the Glory game coming off a double against Melbourne Victory last weekend and won't be weighed down by history.
Asked about the side's lack of recent goals against Glory in Perth, Heskey said it was up to the whole team to turn that around.
"It's not just me. Everyone has to really put in to try and turn that around," Heskey said. "For me personally, it doesn't really matter if I score or not as long as we win. We are going to try and play our game and see how we go."
The Jets made the trip to Perth on Thursday with coach Gary van Egmond taking a squad of 17 players with him.
There will be at least three changes to the squad that accounted for Victory.
Midfielder Ben Kantarovski did not make the trip after suffering a minor knee injury at training on Tuesday while veteran striker Michael Bridges was also left behind.
It's understood Jacob Pepper is in the frame for Kantarovski while former Gold Coast midfielder James Brown is almost certain to make his Jets debut after recovering from injury.
It's tipped Brown will come off the bench.
Glory's Scott Neville returns to take on his old club. Picture: Sean Middleton Source: PerthNow
Former Perth Glory player Scott Neville also returns to meet his old club after missing the past two games with a groin strain.
After four seasons at Glory, Neville quit to link with the Jets this season and would love nothing more than to play a role in an unlikely win.
Neville will slot straight back in at right back in place of Josh Brilliante, who is on Young Socceroos duty.
Central defender Josh Mitchell will also be playing against his old club and his combination with Tiago at the back for the Jets will be crucial to the outcome.
Heskey admitted the travel could be a factor tonight but just how big he didn't know.
"It's a long journey to get here and it's good to get it out of the system (with a training run yesterday)."
Perth will be without injured stars Jacob Burns and Shane Smeltz.
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