Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Neil Young is still a fair while off playing according to coach Branko Culina.

The 30-year old is recovering from a two-month spell in hospital following a negative reaction to medication he took after badly breaking his nose but is not ready for the rigours of competitive football forcing the Jets to go after some cover in the keeping stocks.

"The earliest Neil will probably be back is the end of September, October," Culina told the Newcastle Herald.

"He's lost a lot of weight and is still very weak . . . he's a fair way off.

"We're looking around [for a replacement].

"We've obviously got Ben (Kennedy) and a couple of young boys but we need to make sure we have cover and competition for Ben.

"We're addressing that and now that we know Neil is going to be out for a little while, we'll hopefully make some inroads."