Phoenix coach positive ahead of Sydney clash

Ernie Merrick isn’t prone to big statements.

The Wellington Phoenix coach is a man with his feet on the ground, someone who deals in facts and preaches hard work and modest expectations.

So when he mentions grand finals, when answering a question about the Phoenix’s 3-2 win over the Central Coast Mariners last Friday, then your ears definitely prick up.

The Phoenix had needed that victory. From being a team with, almost, irresistible momentum, their A-League campaign was beginning to grind to an underwhelming halt.

Merrick felt criticisms of the team’s form and concerns about whether they’d be serious title contenders were overstated. But, without wanting to put words in Merrick’s mouth, coming from 2-0 down to beat the Mariners in added time seems to have convinced him that the destiny of the Phoenix’s season has changed.

‘‘I’ve made a couple of grand finals with another club [Melbourne Victory] and we got that sort of run at some stage – conceding goals, not scoring goals – and you have to come out of it before you go into the finals,’’ Merrick said ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Sydney FC at Westpac Stadium.

‘‘That’s why it was such a crucial game last weekend. The fact that we did get three goals, and it could’ve been four or five with Jason [Hicks] missing a chance and Burnsy [Nathan Burns] missing a chance, so I think that was a crucial game to win. Very much [so].’’

Whether the Phoenix are about to emulate what the Victory have done remains to be seen.

At stake at Westpac Stadium is the honour of finishing the roundrobin in second place, behind the Victory. And, as history shows and Merrick knows only too well,

Phoenix: (from) Glen Moss, Michael Boxall, Ben Sigmund, Andrew Durante (c), Manny Muscat, Louis Fenton, Albert Riera, Vince Lia, Roly Bonevacia, Nathan Burns, Michael McGlinchey, Kenny Cunningham, Alex Rodriguez, Kwabena Appiah, Jason Hicks, Tom Doyle, Roy Krishna, Lewis Italiano. Sydney FC: Ivan Necevski, Seb Ryall, Matt Jurman, Nikola Petkovic, Milos Dimitrijevic, Shane Smeltz, Bernie Ibini, Christopher Naumoff, Alex Brosque (c), Alex Gersbach, Peter Triantis, Vedran Janjetovic, Marc Janko, Rhyan Grant, Aaron Calver, Jacques Faty, Mickael Tavares, Robert Stambolziev.

no team outside the top-two has ever gone on to win this league.

Sydney are an outstanding side but Merrick felt the confidence gained from the Mariners win ‘‘could be a crucial difference going into this game.’’

With that in mind, Merrick has not attempted to play down the significance of tomorrow and ask the players to treat it as just another match.

‘‘No, I don’t want to keep them grounded. I want to keep them excited, positive and looking forward to scoring goals and playing before, hopefully, the biggest crowd of the year at Westpac Stadium on Sunday night.’’

If yesterday’s training session was any guide, then it appears Merrick will again play fullback Louis Fenton in midfield, alongside Vince Lia and Albert Riera. With Roly Bonevacia pushing further forward, Roy Krishna would be the front man to drop to the bench.

‘‘I thought when he went into the midfield against the Mariners he changed the game for us, along with two or three others,’’ said Merrick of Fenton.