Newcastle coach Rob Stanton has spoken of his admiration for his side's major rivals ahead of the F3 derby against the Central Coast Mariners.

Far from the animosity usually associated with football's heated rivalry matches, the Jets boss says his club wants to take a similar path to the Mariners and return from the A-League Men doldrums to the pointy-end of the table.

The struggling Jets haven't played finals since 2018 - a disappointment the Mariners had become accustomed to before their most recent jolt up the ladder that culminated with last season's grand final success.

"You've got to give credit where credit's due, they're doing really well," Stanton said ahead of Saturday's clash at McDonald Jones Stadium.

"Three years ago, they were at rock bottom, so they've built themselves really well. It takes time.

"We're trying to do similar things. We're trying to build strong foundations, consistency, to be resilient and be strong.

"We're seeing good signs and just need to finish games off at times."

The rivals are in the middle of wildly different campaigns.

While the Mariners are making a strong fist of their title defence, going into the weekend in second place, the Jets sit 11th and haven't won in five games.

Stanton has all-but-conceded his side's finals chances are dwindling, but that leaves them with nothing to lose in the derby.

"It's a great day for the fans and the players," he said.

"We look forward to the big games, the games that mean a lot to the community, to the players and fans.

"I'll try to keep calm, I've been in derbies before so I know sometimes you can get a bit emotional (but) you need to stay focused.

"Our objective is to focus on what we want to do to get the three points."

A slight window of opportunity has opened for the Jets with the Mariners to be without the suspended Alou Kuol and Ronald Barcellos.