Missing midfielders nothing major
The unavailability of three midfield players will not force major changes to the Wellington Phoenix lineup for Friday night’s Hyundai A-League 2007/08 showdown with Sydney FC.
The Phoenix take on the A-League’s glamour boys in the final home game of their inaugural season without Tim Brown, Vince Lia and Brazilian playmaker Daniel.
Brown and Lia received one-match bans after each collecting their fourth yellow card of the season, in Sunday’s 3-2 win against the Newcastle Jets. Daniel will miss Friday night’s match as he serves out the second match of a two-game suspension.
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert said the personnel problems would not force him to make wholesale changes to his lineup or the formation he has employed with impressive success in recent matches.
“We don’t really have to make too many changes, really it’s just one adjustment in the middle of the park and we have people able to slot straight in. It’s probably not so much of issue with Daniel [unavailable] because we play him a little further forward. Vinnie played wide against Newcastle at the weekend and we probably don’t need to play him there on Friday.
“So we’ve got options in a range of areas. The key issue is filling one central midfield position and we’ve got a couple of people in mind to do that.”
Sydney FC have been bullish about their aim of beating the Phoenix and pushing on to regain the Hyundai A-League crown after winning the championship in its inaugural year.
However, they will have to overcome a Phoenix outfit that has had the wood on them in the two teams’ past clashes this season. The Phoenix demolished Sydney 3-0 in a 2007 Pre-Season Cup match at Westpac Stadium before scoring their first ever away win of the Hyundai A-League competition season with a gritty 2-1 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium in round four. The most recent clash went down to the wire, with an injury time penalty helping Sydney to a 1-1 draw at Wellington’s Ring of Fire in round 13.
“Bring it on,” Herbert said. “We have been decent against Sydney FC this year and there’s no pressure on us. I think a club like Sydney probably needs to be in the top two – they’re not – and they need to come here and get three points from us.
“We’ll make life difficult for them, that’s for sure.”
Friday night’s match kicks off at 7.30pm (NZT).
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1. Mark PASTON (gk), 2. Jeremy CHRISTIE, 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 5.Karl DODD, 7. Ross ALOISI, 8.Vaughan COVENY, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 10.Michael FERRANTE, 12. Richard JOHNSON, 13. Steven OLD, 14. Steven O’DOR, 16.Kristian REES, 17.Vince LIA, 18. Ahmad ELRICH, 19. Greg DRAPER, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 21.FELIPE, 23 Costa BARBAROUSES. *three to be omitted
* To celebrate the Phoenix’s final home game of the season on Friday night, a special ticket deal has been launched by the club. Children under the age of 16 (maximum of three) will receive free admission to the match between the Phoenix and Sydney FC when accompanied by a parent or caregiver. Further details on the ticket deal are available from www.wellingtonphoenix.com and www.ticketek.co.nz.