Soccer: Speedy defender key in must-win

Wellington Phoenix's Michael Boxall, centre. Photo / NZPA

After four years in professional football, Wellington Phoenix defender Michael Boxall has found his feet.

The 25-year-old defender - a former Mt Albert Grammar first XI player - is enjoying the most consistent form of his career under Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick and tonight will be a key cog in the wheel if they are to run over Adelaide United at Eden Park.

Boxall was called upon for first team duty when fullback Louis Fenton went down with a season-ending injury on New Year's Day against West Sydney Wanderers. Despite not starting a game at right back for eight years, Boxall stepped up, performed with aplomb and hasn't looked back.

He made the A-League team of the week for his performance in the Phoenix's 5-0 win over Melbourne Victory and has looked a strong, calm and composed presence in his three successive starts.

But perhaps his greatest weapon is his speed. At 1.88m and 90kg, Boxall is deceptively quick. So quick in fact that he beats whippets Tyler Boyd, Kenny Cunningham and the rest of the Phoenix squad over 10m and 20m sprints in their fitness testing sessions.

"A speed test where you just go whenever you want isn't necessarily relevant to the speed you use in football, but it's good knowing that you do have that in the locker to match opposition wingers for pace," Boxall said.

Tonight that pace will come in handy as he helps deal with the speed and trickery of Adelaide attackers Bruce Djite and Jeronimo Neumann.

It's another must-win for the Phoenix, who despite playing some attractive soccer and earning 13 points from their past six games, languish second to bottom on the A-League ladder. But the table is tight with five points separating fifth and ninth place and a win puts them right back in the mix for a playoff spot.

Boxall credits the Phoenix's change in fortune to Merrick and his meticulous planning.

"This year for the first time, each player in every position knows their own roles as well as everyone else's roles," Boxall said. "During my time in Vancouver [playing for the Whitecaps in the MLS] I wasn't necessarily coached in my position. I was just kind of thrown out there and expected to produce results.

"Ernie has made it very clear about what he wants from everyone and how he wants them to play. Everyone is on the same page."

"Since our change in form it's been a bit livelier at trainings and I think once we got those results we truly started to believe in what we were capable of throughout the rest of the season."

Merrick has declared Costa Rican duo Kenny Cunningham and Carlos Hernandez certain starters after returning from international duty. However, league-leading goal scorer Stein Huysegems has picked up a slight calf complaint, and will have a fitness test tomorrow morning.

Over 11,000 tickets have been pre-sold for the match with the Phoenix needing a crowd of 12,000 to break even.

"Growing up, if you'd told my dad that I would be playing professional sports at Eden Park he'd have been stoked that he had a son playing professional rugby," Boxall said. "But it's kind of worked out the other way. It's going to be a great night in front of friends and family."