KEY POINTS:
The Wellington Phoenix can catapult back into playoff contention if able to capitalise on Queensland's woeful home record tonight.
A win could see Wellington close to within two points of the top four and well placed to climb higher as four of their next five games are at
home.
The Queensland Roar are fourth, five points ahead of the Phoenix, and will start as heavy favourites thanks to an unbeaten run which has seen them claim 11 of the last 15 points on offer.
But the Roar have the worst home record of the A-League's seven Australian sides. Of 26 home games since the competition kicked off two-and-a-half seasons ago, Queensland have lost 10, drawn 10 and won just six. Even the Knights did better at home last season.
Queensland's only victory at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium this season was the 2-1 win over the Phoenix which kicked off the club's current five-game unbeaten run.
While Wellington were flat, coach Ricki Herbert said other factors aided Queensland's cause. Daniel was suspended, Felipe was forced off early with injury and the Roar scored their second in first-half injury time when the Phoenix were a man short. Steven O'Dor was on the sideline, having had his nose broken minutes earlier.
O'Dor was also forced off the pitch a week ago after another knock to his nose and returned home to Melbourne to get that and some troublesome wisdom teeth sorted out. The central defender is likely to be the only player missing today from the starting 11 who won 1-0 in Perth last weekend ending a four-game losing streak.
Captain Ross Aloisi was back in contention after missing his first match of the season last Friday because of a back injury but Herbert said he was unlikely to be risked if not 100 per cent fit.
Herbert said he would persist with the variation in formation tried successfully in Perth which saw Daniel and Ahmad Elrich used in more central roles to get them more involved.
Today's fixture marks the end of a difficult run for the Phoenix of six games, five of which were away. Herbert said at the start he wanted at least six points from these games.
That goal looked unlikely after four straight defeats but is achievable if Wellington can win back-to-back for the first time.
The heavy travel schedule is not quite over for the Phoenix players in the All Whites to play World Cup qualifiers against Vanuatu in Port Vila next Saturday and Wellington the following Wednesday.
Herbert and Shane Smeltz, Tony Lochhead, Jeremy Christie, Tim Brown and Mark Paston will fly on Monday from Brisbane to Sydney, where the All Whites will prepare at a private school in Campbelltown.
The team fly to Vanuatu the day before Saturday's game at the Port Vila Municipal Stadium, which passed an inspection by the Oceania Football Confederation after initially being deemed unfit to host the match originally scheduled for last month.
Herbert, making his first trip to Vanuatu, said winning in the Pacific Islands was more difficult than many people appreciated. "People don't give these countries the respect they deserve. Australia went to the Solomon Islands with a full strength team and struggled to win 2-1 [in 2005]."
