Soccer: Phoenix face explosive Roar on rebound

Chris Greenacre (L) of Wellington contests with Seb Van Den Brink of Perth. Photo / Getty Images

Having something close to a full squad - long-term injuries excepted - to select from is about the only plus for Ricki Herbert as he prepares to lead his Wellington Phoenix into the lion's den tomorrow night.

The Brisbane Roar, handed a reality check by Melbourne Victory last Saturday, will be a dangerous beast on their return to Suncorp Stadium.

Stung by their failure to put away a Victory team who played almost the 90 minutes a player short and with just nine for the last hour, Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou is determined his players return to the form which blasted them through the first four rounds with four wins and a goal count of 13-1.

The 2-2 draw with the Victory stretched their unbeaten run to an incredible 33 matches.

History is no help for Herbert either.

In 12 matches between the two sides, the Phoenix have won only once and never at Suncorp. Three matches have been drawn.

While Brisbane lose Mitch Nichols to international duty, the home side are pretty much at full strength.

The positives for the Phoenix are, for the first time since round one, they do not have a player missing through suspension with Ben Sigmund back after his week off and that veteran midfielder Tim Brown will play his 100th A-League game.

Brown, 30, reaches the milestone in his 90th appearance for the Phoenix after playing his first 10 games for the Newcastle Jets.

"I am so proud to be part of the Phoenix with its Kiwi core," said Brown as he prepared for yesterday's trip to Queensland.

"When I was looking for an opportunity to play professionally, the Knights were in the A-League but they didn't want to look at Kiwis.

"I had to go to Aussie to get a chance to show what I could do. When I signed for Newcastle people started to take notice. Then, when the Phoenix began and Ricki called me I had already agreed to stay at Newcastle, but they kindly released me so I could go home to play.

"A lot of players have come and gone, but we have a really close group and every day is a fun day when you come to work. In such an environment the 100 game mark creeps up on you."

Brown acknowledges this season is proving a stern test.

"This season is going to be even more challenging and we have to make sure our standards don't drop."

The Phoenix players were disappointed with their flat performance in the 2-1 home loss to the Central Coast Mariners last week and are determined to show that was a minor blip after four solid performances to start the season.

With Sigmund set to return to his central defensive role, Herbert will be forced to make changes but the run-on XI will be little changed.

They are up against it but can take some little satisfaction that their three losses - after a draw and 2-0 win at the start of the campaign - have only been by the odd goal.

Little errors have cost them dearly but against the explosive Roar they cannot afford to make any and even half chances on attack must be taken.

A-League

Brisbane Roar v Wellington Phoenix
Suncorp Stadium
Tomorrow 7pm (live SS3)
Referee: Jarred Gillett.