Soccer: Phoenix's winning secrets

Phoenix striker Chris Greenacre takes on Michael Marrone of Adelaide United. Photo / Getty Images

The Wellington Phoenix head into today's semifinal against the Newcastle Jets on the back on an incredible run of form. Striker Chris Greenacre and Michael Brown indentify five things that have been the keys to their success.

1. Paul Ifill

Paul Ifill came third in the voting for the A-League's best player behind Melbourne's Carlos Hernandez and Gold Coast marksman Shane Smeltz.

There are many, including Wellington boss Ricki Herbert, who think he deserved the gong.

"I think he's the best player in the league," Greenacre says. "Some of his performances this season have been incredible.

"The 20 minutes he put in against Central Coast, he could have been playing for any team in the world. He ran the show and turned that 1-0 lead into a 3-0 cushion.

"His pedigree from the UK is fantastic. He's played a handful of games in the Premier League and many more in the Championship and that type of experience has been really rewarding for us as a team.

"It is a massive part of what we are about. We have an attacking style this year and a lot of play has gone through Paul."

2. Home sweet home

The Phoenix haven't been beaten in Wellington since October 2008. That's 18 games ago. It is an incredible record and one they hope extends to 19 today, especially in front of a sell-out crowd of 35,000.

"[Goalkeeper] Liam Reddy said when he used to come here with Brisbane, they would fly into Wellington and it would be a bumpy ride," Greenacre says.

"It would be windy, cold, wet. To hear an opposing player say it puts teams on a bit of a downer helps us. We use it to our advantage and have tried to make Westpac a fortress this year.

"I think a lot is made of it but people forget we have that long flight every second week."

3. Three of a kind

Wellington's defence has conceded just one goal in their last four games and much of that can be credited to centre backs Andrew Durante, Jon McKain and goalkeeper Liam Reddy.

It's a record that didn't go unnoticed among Australian football and both Durante and McKain were picked for the Socceroos squad that beat Indonesia 1-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier on Wednesday night.

McKain, though, is suspended today, with Ben Sigmund the most likely to take his place.

"For the front lads, when you know you're not going to concede many goals, it gives us that licence to try things," Greenacre says. "It's like they're saying to us, 'don't worry, we've got it boxed off back here'.

"They all have such a good understanding. Jon was out injured for quite a long time and, when he came back, he realised he needed to cement his place and that has come through. His performances have been magnificent. Dura does all the simple things very, very well.

"Liam got a lot of praise for what he did in the penalty shootout against Perth but, for us, he's been doing it for a lot longer than that. It was probably six weeks ago he set the standard."

4. Turning one point into three

Wellington's season looked like it might be scuppered by the fact they registered 10 draws in 19 games, including six in a row.

Since Christmas, though, they have won six of nine games and another in a penalty shootout.

"We weren't playing badly when we had all those draws and that was the most frustrating thing," Greenacre says.

"Look at the Melbournes and Sydneys - when they're not playing particularly well, they can go on the road and pick up a 1-0, like when Sydney beat us in Palmerston North.

"The good teams seem to be able to nick that 1-0 even when they're not playing well. That's what we have been able to do."

5. Staying injury-free

Mark Paston might have a different opinion, given a broken leg ended his season, but Wellington have remained relatively injury free in 2009-10.

Many sides are struggling to put their best team on the park at the moment but the Phoenix have one of the most settled line-ups in the league.

"It's worked out really well for us," Greenacre says while touching wood.

"You will have seasons when you get a hell of a lot of injuries. Thankfully, we've had one that's injury-free really.

"When we have got injuries, like me and Pastie, the replacements have come in and done the job very well. We weren't missed."