Soccer: Knights' opponents sack coach

The New Zealand Knights' prospects of averting a five-match A-League soccer losing streak got a boost today when the troubled Newcastle Jets sacked their coach.

The only team performing worse than the Knights in the competition, the Jets today confirmed coach Nick Theodorakopoulos had been shown the door after seven winless matches.

The Knights travel to Newcastle on Saturday for a match between the two bottom teams in the league.

Former Australian international and Jets assistant coach Gary van Egmond will take over the reins for the match.

Theodorakopoulos, 42, replaced Englishman Richard Money as Jets coach during the off-season after Money was sacked, despite guiding the franchise to the inaugural A-League's top-four last season.

The last straw came at the weekend when the Jets lost 0-2 to runaway competition leaders Melbourne Victory, conceding their fifth goal in two weeks.

The Knights will again be without coach Paul Nevin in their nerve centre on Saturday as he serves the second week of his ban from the team's technical area on the sideline for breaching the A-League's code of conduct.

They welcome back All Whites defender Che Bunce after he missed the 0-1 away loss to Perth last weekend after being red carded the previous week.

Swiss defender Gregory Duruz will miss a second consecutive match as he serves out a ban for violent conduct.

- NZPA