Phoenix set to unleash striker

Wellington Phoenix hope the availability of Gary Hooper will offset the loss of another key player, as they look to break their early A-League drought against last season’s premiers Perth Glory.

The Phoenix’s new marquee man is expected to make his muchanticipated debut against the Glory at Westpac Stadium on Sunday night after sitting out the team’s 2-1 defeat to Sydney FC.

Having followed his career closely in England, his likely strike partner, David Ball, said the introduction of Hooper should give the Phoenix a massive boost after suffering back-toback defeats.

‘‘It’s huge, with his CV and the goals he’s scored, adding someone like him to any team in this league and certainly ours. We’re just really happy to have him and he’s going to be a big player for us,’’ Ball, 29, said.

‘‘Obviously in England you know people and he’s certainly scored enough goals to be recognised. He’s going to be quality and even at the age I’m at I can still learn off players like him, who has played at the top levels.’’

Despite coming up short against Sydney and losing first-choice defender Liberato Cacace to a twogame suspension, the Phoenix produced an encouraging performance against the Sky Blues, even registering one more shot on target than

their opposition.

Ulises Davila, who earned a spot in the A-League team of the week after netting his first goal for the club, was also buoyed by the team’s performance.

‘‘I was happy for the goal but for sure not so happy for the result. I think we deserved more but the good thing is the team is doing well and fight until the end.

‘‘We are showing good football and creating a lot of chances, which is the important thing for the team,’’ Davila said.

‘‘The team worked really hard, we created a lot of chances to score but unfortunately we didn’t bring the three points back. But we are on the way to having a good season.

‘‘The pre-season for us I think was different to in Australia, we don’t play many good games so I think with the games [under our belt now] we will be better every time. We showed in the first round that it

wasn’t good enough but this last game was good, and every time we will be better with more minutes on the pitch.’’

Although Jaushua Sotirio put in a solid shift and assisted on Davila’s goal, a player of Hooper’s pedigree could prove to be the difference between making the top-six or not.

Davila said it was good to have options. ‘‘We know the quality of Hooper but also Joshy and Bally did a great job in the Sydney game so [coach] Ufuk [Talay] has a difficult job [selecting the team] but everyone is happy that we have all these options to play in the forwards.’’

Meanwhile, the Phoenix have indicated they will not appeal the two-game suspension handed to Cacace for his dangerous challenge on Anthony Caceres, meaning the left-back will miss not only Sunday’s match against the Glory but also the round-four clash against Melbourne City.