West loss a wake-up call

WESTERN United coach Mark Rudan says Saturday’s shock loss to Newcastle can be a wake- up call f or t he A-League newcomers.

United were favourites against the Jets but were stunned by a first-half goal and unable to claw back the deficit, losing 1-0 and spurning the chance to put pressure on table-toppers Melbourne City.

“Everybody thought that we were just going to walk over this team and that certainly wasn’t the case,” Rudan said.

“And we made mention of that throughout the week, it was a good challenge for them to see — probably the first time this year we were expected to win quite easily, according to everybody, and we weren’t there.”