Soccer: Herbert not expecting Victory to wilt

Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert. Photo / Getty Images.

Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert doesn't expect the star-studded Melbourne Victory to roll over and let his side beat them on Friday night despite their playoff chances being dead and buried.

The Victory, who boast Harry Kewell, Archie Thompson and Kiwi whiz kid Marco Rojas in their ranks, sit eighth on the A-League ladder with two rounds to go and have nothing to show for their season.

The Phoenix, meanwhile, are in a tight race to claim third place in the league and would love nothing more than to tip over the Victory at AAMI Park this week; although it's much easier said than done for two reasons.

First and foremost, despite playing in the A-League since 2007-2008, the Wellingtonians have never tasted success in Melbourne.

Secondly, while the Victory have only won five from 25 this season, two of those wins came against the Phoenix - a 2-1 win at Westpac Stadium in Round 4 and a 3-1 drubbing in Melbourne in December.

"They're good going forward,'' Herbert said of the Victory. "From an attacking point of view, they've got arguably the best players in the league to do that. So they can hurt you if you give them that chance and I think they've had a tough time but I don't think they'll be giving up the ghost that's for sure. But we've got to be strong and get ourselves through this one if we can.''

The Phoenix are currently level with Perth Glory on points (40) but the Western Australian-based side sit above Wellington based on their superior goal tally - 36 to 33, as the teams have the same goal difference.

Perth meet Gold Coast on the Glitter Strip on Sunday, which is a tricky game considering United have been told it is unlikely they will be around next season since the league stripped club owner Clive Palmer of his licence.

With the second-placed Brisbane Roar only three points away on 43, Herbert said he wanted his side to stay in the top four at the least.

"We want to finish as high up the league as we can now. But it's in our hands. We've never won in Melbourne before so that's something that we want to break if we can do that. We are playing well, so I think we've to a good enough chance to do it.''

After the Phoenix meet the Victory they round out the regular season with a home game against the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, March 25.

Finishing third would give the Phoenix home advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs, while if they were to grab at least a point from their clash with the Victory they would all but guarantee a top-four finish.

In team news, Phoenix midfielder Leo Bertos has recovered from a cut on his knee, which kept him out of last weekend's 1-1 draw with the Melbourne Heart, although Herbert said he wasn't sure how he would work the All White back in to his side.

After their slow start against the Heart Herbert said his side needed to wake up from the opening whistle to avoid a repeat of their 3-1 defeat against the Victory in December where they were down 3-0 before 30 minutes had elapsed on the clock.

"We won't be able to have a first 45 like we did against the Heart, that's for sure. Because we kind of had one of those against Melbourne Victory last time and we were three-nil down after 20 minutes. So it's going to be important that we get ourselves in the game a hell of a lot quicker.''

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