PHOENIX V MARINERS
Wellington, 4pm tomorrow
Wellington Phoenix are keeping the faith despite a rocky start to the A-league soccer campaign.
Wellington began their third season in the competition determined to challenge for a playoffs berth. Instead, they find themselves second from last with one win in seven outings.
They enter a home match against third-placed Central Coast Mariners tomorrow on the back of three successive 1-1 draws, the latest in Wellington after a last-minute equaliser by North Queensland Fury last weekend.
Phoenix vice-captain Tim Brown believes the seven competition points earned to date do not fairly reflect how well his team are playing.
Brown said the latest draw had steeled the resolve of the players to in future put the opposition away.
"It was so frustrating that we found ourselves in that situation, copping a goal in a match where we'd done everything bar finishing them off and getting the three points," he said yesterday.
"But we've bounced back very quickly and the belief remains very, very strong that we're a very good side and that it's only a matter of time before we start getting good results and climbing up the ladder."
Brown believes his team's fortunes are well overdue to change.
"If we can keep playing as well as we have been then things will start turning in our favour."
He acknowledged the Phoenix had not converted enough of the opportunities they had created in front of goal, with just eight goals to show from seven matches.
The midfielder accepted some of the blame. "I've had a number of opportunities where I should have scored and I'm disappointed that I haven't scored as many as I might have.
"But I firmly believe things will change not only for me but for some of the other guys as well."
Brown said the team's ambitions remained high but it was time they achieved the results required to match those.
"Anything less than being up near the top of the table will be a disappointment for us but we need to start converting the dominance we've had in matches into wins.
"Nothing less than beating the Mariners will be acceptable this weekend."
Central Coast have started the season strongly, most recently hammering competition frontrunners Gold Coast United 3-0.
"I've got a great deal of respect for the Central Coast in terms of what they've achieved," Brown said.
"They don't have any big names or flashy style but they consistently achieve through a combination of determination and quality that they get a lack of respect for."
The Phoenix are still sweating on the fitness of attacker Paul Ifill, who strained a hamstring last weekend.
Daniel will definitely miss the match after returning to Brazil for the birth of his second child, meaning former Mariner Adrian Caceres could start against his old club.
PHOENIX V MARINERS
Wellington Phoenix (from): Mark Paston, Manny Muscat, Tony Lochhead, Tim Brown, Leo Bertos, Paul Ifill, Chris Greenacre, Michael Ferrante, Jiang Chen, Troy Hearfield, Adrian Caceres, David Mulligan, Vince Lia, Ben Sigmund, Reece Crowther, Marco Rojas, 22. Andrew Durante (captain), Costa Barbarouses.
Central Coast Mariners (from): Danny Vukovic, Matthew Crowell, Pedj Bojic, John Hutchinson, Dean Heffernan, Nik Mrdja, Dylan MacAllister, Michael McGlinchey, Andrew Clark, Nigel Boogaard, Chris Doig, Alex Wilkinson (captain), Matt Simon, Nicky Travis, Adam Kwasnik, Matthew Ryan.
- NZPA
