Wanderers expecting hosts to strike back

Rain will be ideal but Wanderers Soccer Club coach Darren Bazeley knows his troops will need a lot more than that to win in Napier today.

Sure, the red-card, one-match suspension to midfielder Dave Mulligan will help the visitors' cause, too, but Bazeley reckons Kinetic Electrical Hawke's Bay United remain a hard nut to crack especially after their 6-1 loss to Team Wellington last Sunday.

"People will look at that result and think it's a funny one but it's not a great time to play them down there," he says before Bay United host them at Bluewater Stadium in a 2pm kick off in the ASB Premiership match.

"What would have been a make-up game for them will now be a bounce-back one so it doesn't help us but it does make it a more exciting opportunity for us when they are up for the game," Bazeley says, after Bay United lost ex-All White Mulligan's services just before halftime for a "heavy double-footed tackle" in Wellington.

The Wanderers haven't won a game this summer on the field but, ironically, last month claimed three points from the hosts who fielded new signing Harry Edge in their first outing after the Christmas holidays despite winning 2-1 at North Harbour.

It was an administrative blunder because the Bay franchise had overlooked the fact that New Zealand Football had not cleared Edge's transfer documents before he came off the bench in the dying minutes.

The Chris Greatholder-coached Bay United have now lost twice to Wellington in what has been otherwise a stellar season.

So what motivates Bazeley's predominantly 17 to 18-year-old campaigners yearning for experience?

Bazeley hastens to add they played quite well in their first encounter against Bay United but didn't take their chances.

"It's a slightly different situation for us with the [New Zealand Under-20] World Cup in 18 months," he says, emphasising it isn't their world cup team but players are fighting for selection.

"Results are more important than performances for teams like Hawke's Bay but for us it's the other way around."

A former Waitakere United player who also was assistant coach to ex-coach Neil Emblen, Bazeley has frequented Bluewater Stadium on several occasions and is mindful it isn't easy to hit the highway with three points.

The significance of a result and the roll-on effect aren't lost on him or his players.

"It's frustrating for the boys but they are a good set of lads who want to perform at a good level."

A "shell-shocked" Greatholder and his Bill Robertson-captained Bay United seemed to have moved on from the controversial last-round loss.

With defender Danny Wilson and strikers Tomas Mosquera and Nathanael Hailemariam still under an injury cloud, the coach is holding back naming his playing squad until this morning but Edge is an option for Mulligan.

"It's an opportunity for us to bounce back against a quality side," Greatholder says while confirming many people would have expected them to put a tick in the win box next to the Wanderers at the start of the season.

Bazeley says Mulligan is an important figure and will potentially affect the hosts but also feels Bay United have the depth in a worthy squad to find someone who will do the job in the midfield with aplomb.