Phoenix in town for training

HOPEFUL: Carlos Hernandez is hoping to be selected for the Costa Rican World Cup team.

In what is a major coup for the Wairarapa footballing fraternity, Wellington Phoenix are to hold a training session in Masterton on Thursday.

It will be their last serious hit-out before they confront Melbourne Victory at Westpac Stadium two days later and it is anticipated that coach Ernie Merrick will spend at least 90 minutes putting them through their paces, starting at 11am.

As would be expected, players will be off bounds to spectators until their training stint ends but they will be available to sign autographs on completion.

While the Phoenix sit in ninth place on the A-League competition, they will come to Masterton in a confident frame of mind, having secured three wins and a draw from their last four matches.

Victories over Sydney (1-0), Melbourne Heart (1-0) and Western Sydney Wanderers (3-1) meant they could equal the club record of four successive wins when they met defending champions Central Coast Mariners at Westpac Stadium on Sunday, but, while they clearly finished the stronger of the two teams, the best they could do was a 1-1 draw.

Sharing the points with the Mariners would normally be regarded as a handy result for the Phoenix but it still left them five points off the play-off pace and with the prospect of needing wins against two of the powerhouses, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar, in their next two games.

Brisbane Roar lead the A-League points table with 30 points, followed by Western Sydney Wanderers 26, Central Coast Mariners 21, Melbourne Victory 20, Perth Glory 19, Newcastle Jets 19, Sydney 19, Adelaide United 17, Wellington Phoenix 14 and Melbourne Heart 5.

Adding spice to Thursday's training at Memorial Park is the fact it will be the last chance for players to impress Merrick before he confirms his starting line-up for the Melbourne Victory match.

Two members of his squad desperate to make a favourable impression will be Carlos Hernandez and Kenny Cunningham, both of whom are wanting to make every post a winner as they seek selection in the Costa Rican World Cup team. It was a powerful left-foot strike from Cunningham that produced Phoenix's only goal against the Mariners.

Other relative newcomers to the Phoenix sure to attract special interest will be a former paramedic from Spain in Albert Riera who has already been labelled as their most influential player and Roiy Krishan, who became the first Fijian to play in the league when he came off the bench in the Mariners game.