Short and sweet Christmas for Phoenix players

At least the Wellington Phoenix players get to spend Christmas morning with their families.

But such is life as a Hyundai A-league player that they were at the airport by the afternoon as they travelled to Newcastle for their Boxing Day match against the Jets.

‘‘We don’t have Christmas pretty much and that’s been the story for the last 20 years of my career,’’ interim co-coach Chris Greenacre said.

‘‘We’ve got a job to do, we’re professional people and we get enough off time at the end of the season to celebrate and do all those shenanigans.

‘‘It will be great for the guys with families to spend the morning, rightly so, with them, but as soon as we head to the airport we’re in work mode and have a job to do.’’

In terms of straying from their normally strict diets with a bit of Christmas pudding, Greenacre said it would be a case of out of sight, out of mind for him.

‘‘What I don’t know won’t hurt me, but it’s family time, it’s an important time of year because we spend so much time on the road. It’s really important those guys are home with their families where they need to be.

‘‘We’ve got a lot of toddlers in the squad, so it’s important the players are home, and do that side of stuff, but as soon as we get to the airport the mind is focused on the job at hand.’’

As for the on-field stuff, the Phoenix will meet a resurgent Jets side who have managed to get up to fifth place on the ladder, albeit six points behind the fourth-placed Melbourne City as the gulf between the top four and bottom six continues to expand.

They got there on the back of back-to-back 2-1 wins over Perth Glory and Adelaide United coinciding with experienced centre backs Nigel Boogaard and Daniel Mullen returning to the squad.

The Phoenix are almost back to full strength, with Michael Mcglinchey the only frontline player still unavailable as he works his way back from a knee injury.

Greenacre and co-coach Des Buckingham’s first two matches in charge have results in a win and a draw for the Phoenix to have the team sitting just two points behind the Jets with a game in hand.

As for the coaching situation, there wasn’t an early Christmas present for either Greenacre or Buckingham, with a decision not expected to be made on a permanent replacement for Ernie Merrick until after the Newcastle game.

However, the pair are the firm favourites to have their run as head co-coaches extended until the end of the season, with confirmation expected before the team meets Adelaide United at Westpac Stadium on New Year’s Day.