Form the focus for Phoenix

Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert is playing down talk of his side’s Hyundai A-League 2007/08 playoff aspirations, focusing solely on ensuring his men continue their recent good form.

While all eight teams in the competition are still able to make the top four playoffs, Herbert’s attention is set on ensuring the sixth-placed Phoenix keep playing good, effective football.

The Phoenix tackle the third-placed Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia Stadium on Sunday night and Herbert says the club is looking to finish its inaugural season in the Hyundai A-League on a high with a good run in its final four games.

“We see these four games as opportunities to get more points and potentially move further up the league. It’s such a tight one that we’re not far from the top and not far from the bottom.”

The Jets were fortunate to leave Westpac Stadium with a 1-0 win back in round three but dominated the round eight clash, outclassing a Phoenix lineup missing seven All Whites players on international duty with a 2-1 win in Newcastle during what was a “Red October” for the Wellington club.

Herbert said exacting a measure of revenge was high on the Phoenix’s list of priorities.

“We’ve got couple of teams on our list that we’d like to do something better against and Newcastle are one of them. We’ll try to make life difficult for them. They sit in the top four – as three of the four teams we’ve got to play do – and I tend to think they’re probably not looking forward to playing us as much as we’re looking forward to playing them. They’ll probably see playing the Phoenix as a chance to stay in the four but we may have something different for them.”

This time it is the Jets who have some personnel problems, with the competition’s leading scorer, Joel Griffiths, to miss the match against the Phoenix on a one-match suspension. In more good news for Phoenix striker Shane Smeltz – one goal behind Griffiths in the race for the league’s Golden Boot – Jets defender Andrew Durante will also miss the match after collecting his fourth yellow card of the season in round 17.

For the Phoenix, Brazilian playmaker Daniel is unavailable for selection due to suspension and skipper Ross Aloisi continues to be hampered by a back problem and will not travel. However, the Phoenix are close to full-strength and the travelling squad virtually identical that which dispatched Perth Glory 3-0 and drew 1-1 with the Queensland Roar just before the Christmas break.

Striker Vaughan Coveny is likely to again wear the captain’s armband, while regular vice-captain Tim Brown has returned to the squad after missing the Queensland match with a groin injury. Brown’s return further bolsters the Phoenix’s impressive midfield stocks, with Vince Lia and Michael Ferrante in fine form in recent matches.

Herbert said the Phoenix had trained well on return from the competition’s Christmas hiatus.

“The players have had four or five days off and it’s hard to find somebody that might have had too much Christmas pud. They’ve trained well this week and continued the work ethic. We’re up against another form side in Newcastle – it seems we keep hitting those form sides week in, week out.

“For us it’s probably more a case of just consolidating the things we’ve done – we’ve only been beaten twice in our past seven games. I think that’s a decent record and I think you’d find it hard to find too many teams to have achieved that.

“We’d like to grab a few more wins and we’ll be positive around taking that approach and giving the team the best opportunities for that. But the key from the players’ perspective will be to play well. It’s the back end of the season and they’ll all be striving. I really sense there is a want and a determination within the squad.”

Wellington Phoenix squad: 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 2. Jeremy CHRISTIE, 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 5.Karl DODD, 6. Tim BROWN, 8.Vaughan COVENY, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 10.Michael FERRANTE, 12. Richard JOHNSON, 13. Steven OLD, 16.Kristian REES, 17.Vince LIA, 18. Ahmad ELRICH, 19. Greg DRAPER, 21.FELIPE. *one to be omitted