Where are the goals going to come from?

We're three matches in to the new A League season and the Jets are yet to score from open play.

Their three goals have all come from set plays. That's 270 minutes of football for no goals from creative play.

"We're just struggling to score a goal during open play and we've done so much work on it all of pre-season," Merrick told A-League.com.au.

"I'm not sure if it's something we're going to solve in the short term but at training it is not a problem."

Despite his team's struggles, the veteran coach who brought up his 300^th A-League game as a coach in the 4-1 loss to Sydney FC on Friday night, insist his team com't back off from the attacking style he wants.

"I think it's very important that we play attacking football and play the style of football that's always got the teams that I've coached into the finals," Merrick said.

"It's all mental. It's performing under mental stress and physical fatigue.

"They don't have that at training. They are all fresh, short, sharp sessions. It's all mental. The best strikers in the world really are cool, calm under pressure.

"[We will] continue to work at it in training, that's all we can do."

The goal drought has meant the Jets have just one draw and two losses to date - hardly the start the club was looking for.

It should be pointed out that the Jets aren't alone at this early stage of the season in finding the back of the net as teams, many with new signings, look for cohesion.

Brisbane Road, for example, has just one goal from three matches and bottom placed Wellington Phoenix have two goals from their three matches. Central Coast mariners have hardly been hitting the back of the net consistently either.

So it's most certainly not panic button time, but a lack of goals can quickly lead to a lack of confidence, and that's the danger - when a slow start suddenly becomes something much bigger.

It would be nice to say the 4-1 scoreline didn't reflect the match against Sydney FC, but the truth was the visitors were a class above.

Sydney's attacking options of Adam Le Fondre, Milos Ninkovic, Kosta Barbarouses and Alex Baumjohann had that cutting edge that the jets are searching for.

We have to move on from here," said said.

"We struggled in the second half to contain them. That was the first time we have played poorly. The first two games we played well and only got a point.

"Credit to Sydney, they played well. We just have to move on from here and look forward to the next game."

It doesn't get much easier.

Next up last season's beaten grand finalists Perth Glory who also are desperate for three points. Like Newcastle, they have played well at times but have struggled to put it all together and are looking for a morale boosting three points. Kick off is at 5pm on Saturday at Newcastle International Sports Centre.