KEY POINTS:
The Wellington Phoenix will achieve a pre-season goal if they upset Queensland Roar in Brisbane tomorrow and clamber into the A-League's top four.
Victory in the final round 17 match at Suncorp Stadium over the second-placed hosts would guarantee an improvement on their fifth and they could claim the top spot, such is the tight nature of the league.
Captain Andrew Durante won't rule anything out, buoyed by how his side clung on to beat Central Coast Mariners at home last Friday after striking early through Shane Smeltz.
"If we can get three points it'll be huge for us," Durante said. "We'll be in the top four come the New Year and that's what we've aimed at achieving as a club.
"The way things are going, if we stay committed and put in performances like we did last week then there's no reason why we can't be among the leaders."
With five rounds until the playoffs, Durante hopes the Mariners dogfight represents a turning point for his side.
"It was tough work for the back four and the defensive midfielders. We were under a lot of pressure but good sides should be able to hold 1-0 leads and we showed we could.
"Probably earlier in the season, we might have thrown that away, so we've shown we've come a long way."
The Phoenix's previous matches against the Roar yielded a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 loss, both in Wellington. As well as a classy Roar side, the Phoenix must counter a poor record in Brisbane, likely sweltering conditions and a parochial Queensland crowd.
"The conditions will be difficult," Durante said. "Obviously the heat will be a big factor and the crowd will be vocal. It's a great stadium and the fans are right in your face. There'll be a lot of sledging going on from the Queenslanders, so it won't be easy.
"But we've learned a lot in the past few weeks in terms of keeping our minds on the task at hand and getting results, so we're well prepared to take these guys on."
The Phoenix players had a couple of days off over Christmas but Durante didn't expect that to impact on their performance.
"We probably deserve a little bit of time out - we've been doing well lately," he said.
"But I'm sure the boys won't over-indulge or do anything silly. We're all professionals and we've got to be focused on getting three points on Sunday."
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert will make few changes to the squad that beat the Mariners. Defender Ben Sigmund has been bracketed in the squad of 16 but remains under an injury cloud.
"I don't think we'll be far away from the squad we used against the Central Coast," Herbert said.
- NZPA
