Hard-nosed midfielder Guiseppe Cagliari will be recalled to the starting line-up for Wairarapa United's Capital Soccer premier division match with Miramar Rangers at the Pugh Sports Bowl on Saturday.
Cagliari was initially on the reserve bench when Wairarapa United scored their crucial 1-0 win over Tawa last weekend but coach Phil
Keinzley is aware of how well he contained Miramar Rangers's former English professional Tim Butterfield the last time the two teams met, and intends to give him the same job again.
"It's a bit like horses for courses, if you know something works why change it," Keinzley said. "He (Cagliari) enjoys that sort of challenge, in fact on thrives on it."
Cagliari's promotion is, of course, bad news for someone and on this occasion it will probably be Paul Gregory, who has made such a good impression in premier division play since earning promotion from the Wairarapa United seconds.
Keinzley said Gregory had been chosen ahead of Cagliari last weekend because he provided an extra attacking weapon but against Miramar Rangers the defensive qualities of Cagliari were expected to be more important. "It's nice to have those sort of options, to be able to cover all the bases," he said.
A second change to the starting line-up for Saturday's match is also being considered with Aaron Spierling perhaps getting the nod ahead of Anton Ross, also in the midfield. Keinzley has been pleased with the form of both youngsters and said if Spierling did start it would simply be a case of wanting to keep them both in good shape.
Now just one point off the competition lead and with a game in hand over the pacesetters Island Bay United, Wairarapa United are well poised to win the premier division title and the promotion to the central league competition for next year which goes with it.
But be that as it may Keinzley is quick to emphasise a loss to Miramar Rangers could drastically change that scenario such is the closeness of the competition and therefore his team would be taking a "one match at a time" approach over the remainder of the league season.
"Thinking further ahead than that would be asking for trouble, we've been down that road before," he said " What we need to do is keep on winning, that's the way we will definitely get the end result we want."
