KEY POINTS:
Wellington Phoenix soccer coach Ricki Herbert says the side who ended Sydney FC's unbeaten run in the A-League last weekend are likely to remain largely unchanged against Newcastle on Monday.
The Phoenix leave for Australia tomorrow in a positive frame of mind after ending their own winless start to the competition with a 2-1 win over Sydney.
A pleasing aspect of the win was how the team worked as a defensive unit, led by central defenders Karl Dodd and Ben Sigmund.
The pair took over from the incumbent pairing of Captain Andrew Durante and Jon McKain, who were both unavailable - McKain for personal reasons and Durante due to a bout of flu.
McKain remains out for Monday, and while Durante is back in the fold his role remains uncertain.
After a training session today at Wellington's Newtown Park, Herbert admitted the performance against Sydney made the selection process for Monday difficult and said competition for starting places was heating up.
"If he (Durante) comes back into the side I think he will be desperate to continue with a decent performance," Herbert said.
"I think Karl and Ben showed everything that we needed and it would be difficult to present a case for them to not be part of what we're doing."
Newcastle is likely be short of a couple of key players on Monday, but Herbert said the Phoenix had already proved that did not necessarily equate to a weakened team.
"They are going to bring players into the side who will be hungry - probably haven't had a start this year - and will want to impress their manager as well.
"It's another good challenge and I think we're ready for this," Herbert said.
