A depleted Newcastle side has slumped to a 3-0 defeat to Perth Glory in round six of the A-League at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

Two goals from Perth striker Stuart Young and a Jamie Harnwell header sealed the win for the visitors.

The result left the Jets anchored to the foot of the table, while the Glory jumped to equal fourth.

Pressure is mounting on Newcastle coach Nick Theodorakopoulos, as his side has not won a match this season.

Young opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a sweet volley from a cross from Bobby Despotovski, making his first start of the season after returning from injury.

The 35-year-old took out the league's best player and top scorer awards last season and, judging by his performance, he'll continue to be a handful for opposition defences.

In-form Jets striker Mark Bridge almost equalised seconds before the break, but he pulled his shot wide from a tight angle.

Young should have added a second in the 64th minute from another Despotovski assist, but he skied his shot over the cross bar.

Newcastle striker Tolgay Ozbey drew a reflex save from Perth goalkeeper Jason Petkovic in the 75th minute, shortly after coming on as a substitute.

Ozbey's angled shot from close range came after interplay with Milton Rodriguez, but Petkovic reached low to parry his effort wide.

Harnwell added a second when he headed past Newcastle goalkeeper Ben Kennedy in the 83rd minute from a corner and Young completed the rout in injury time.

Newcastle was forced to play the match without the suspended Paul Okon and Joel Griffiths.

Stuart Musialik was ruled out with a shin injury, while Vaughan Coveny and Jobe Wheelhouse remained on the long-term injured list.

Theodorakopoulos gave Adam D'Apuzzo and Tarek Elrich their starting debuts, while New Zealander Steven Old made only his second start in defence.

D'Apuzzo, 19, looked nervous and awkward playing the holding role in midfield and was substituted at half-time.

The home side received a scare in the 17th minute when goalkeeper Kennedy injured his right knee from a Jamie Coyne challenge. With no reserve keeper on the books, Newcastle had to wait a few anxious minutes before its custodian recovered.

Newcastle coach Nick Theodorakopoulos said Kennedy suffered a bad knock to his knee and could be out for two weeks, leaving his side with no goalkeeper.

Theodorakopoulos was uncertain about whether the FFA would allow the Jets to sign a short-term replacement player as the minimum for such a contract was four weeks.

"It's a real interesting issue. If he's only out for two weeks, are we allowed to substitute him? Can we bring someone in for two weeks because he's a goalkeeper? It's a specialised position.

"Surely we're not going to be allowed to go in (to next week's match against Melbourne) with no goalkeeper.

"Common sense will prevail."

Theodorakopoulos said it was unfair Kennedy had to play through most of the match with an injury.

He said the result reflected a difficult week with injuries, illnesses and suspensions.

"We were down to the bare minimum," he said.

Despite the emphatic win, Perth coach Ron Smith said it was a pretty even game throughout.

Both teams went out and played good passing games, both tried to get people forward in numbers and create problems for the opposition.

"The margins between winning and losing are pretty fine.

"If you let your guard down and make one or two mistakes, quite often you get punished.

"We went in 1-0 up at half-time and when you're chasing the game, you're always vulnerable."

Smith said Despotovski's performance was very good.

"No-one ever questions Bob's footballing ability. It's his first start for quite a while.

"He held the ball up well and brought people into the play.

"He's been working very hard off the field in the last six to seven weeks to get back to a pretty good standard of aerobic fitness, but his legs were going a bit towards the end.

"Tonight was an indication of what we're capable of doing. What I'm looking for is more consistent performances," said Smith.

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