Update: 3:25PM THE Wellington Phoenix have been weakened for Saturday night’s A-League blockbuster in Perth, with leading goalscorer Nathan Burns and consistent midfielder Alex Rodriguez ruled out through injury.
Burns, second in the golden boot race with 12 goals this season, has a hip complaint whole Rodriguez has a hamstring niggle.
Neither is considered a serious injury but coach Ernie Merrick has opted to play it safe as his high-flying side board the plane on Thursday for the gruelling journey to Western Australia.
The Phoenix, second on the ladder, would go top-of-the-table with a win over the league-leading Glory.
New signing Joel Griffiths, who struck his first goal for the Phoenix in last Saturday’s 2-0 win over Adelaide United, is expected to replace Burns up front while Vince Lia, who is poised to become the fourth man to play 150 games for the club, is the obvious replacement for Rodriguez in the engine room.
Merrick’s headaches don’t end there defenders Ben Sigmund (hip) and Michael Boxall (calf) were unable to participate in Wednesday’s training session and injured back-up players Kenny Cunningham, Kwabena Appiah, Tyler Boyd, Matt Ridenton and Josh Brindell-South remain unavailable.
Sigmund and Boxall will fly as part of an expanded 17-man squad including midfielder Alex Rufer and All Whites striker Joel Stevens, a member of the Phoenix’s ASB Premiership side.
Manny Muscat returns from suspension and will start at left back, with Louis Fenton likely to revert to right back at nib Stadium.
“The boys were really tired and sore,” Merrick said.
“Up until today [Wednesday], we’ve spent on recovery. Ben Sigmund had a fitness test today and came through it quite well but I don’t know if he’s got 90 minutes in him or not. But there are some positives. [Michael] McGlinchey, who was really sore and tight after the [Adelaide] game, he’s come up really well. We’ve got Manny Muscat back, Louis Fenton just keeps on keeping on, [Andrew] Durante who had a calf injury, he feels great. I have a lot of confidence in the squad because we haven’t been caught out like last year. We’ve got good depth, a lot of the boys have really good experience.”
Merrick, who has consistently played down his team’s title chances, backed Rufer, Stevens and back-up defender Tom Doyle to perform if called upon.
“They’ve had the opportunity to play football at reserve level in the ASB competition. Everyone’s pretty well match fit, there’s a real buzz and they’re pretty keen to get out there. So I think whoever starts, we’re definitely in with an attitude that we want to win. It’s not a patch up team, it’ll be a good team that we’ll take over there and there’s no excuses for not playing attacking football, better than we played against Adelaide. I’m not going to make wholesale changes for the sake of it. There’s a purpose to them having a break or playing limited time. The ones that stay here will be training with Andy Hedge and the reserve team. How I rejig the backline, I’ll have a good look at that.”
The Phoenix coped with Burns’ absence prior to the Asian Cup and they will have to do so again later this month, with the striker called up on Wednesday for Australia’s friendlies against world champions Germany in Kaiserslautern on March 25 and Macedonia in Skopje on March 30.
The Phoenix play against the Brisbane Roar on March 22 and Sydney FC on March 29.
Roly Bonevacia’s availability for those games is also in doubt after the classy midfielder was called up by Curacao for international duty.
The former Netherlands youth international is yet to decide whether he will make his debut for the southern Caribbean island.
The Phoenix will also be missing All Whites McGlinchey, Fenton, Boxall, Doyle, Boyd and Stevens, who have been called up for the March 31 friendly against South Korea in Seoul and the preceding seven-day camp.
AT A GLANCE
Wellington Phoenix squad: Glen Moss, Manny Muscat, Andrew Durante, Ben Sigmund, Louis Fenton, Albert Riera, Vince Lia, Roly Bonevacia, Michael McGlinchey, Roy Krishna, Joel Griffiths, Lewis Italiano, Michael Boxall, Tom Doyle, Alex Rufer, Jason Hicks, Joel Stevens
