Return of Lewis a timely boost for Phoenix
Clayton Lewis feared the worst in the days after he suffered an ankle injury at the end of March.
The initial diagnosis was that he might require surgery and would be out for 12 weeks.
That would have drawn a line under his second season at the Wellington Phoenix.
It would have ruled him out of the All Whites’ World Cup playoff against Costa Rica next month.
Thankfully, once the swelling went down, he was able to get an MRI scan and a brighter outlook.
On Monday, six weeks and three days after he left the field against Perth Glory, he returned to action againstmelbourne City.
In the intervening period, the Phoenix defied the odds to make the A-league Men finals series, finishing sixth to set up an elimination final against third-placed Western United in Melbourne on Saturday night.
After playing 45 minutes in his return to the fold – twice as many as he was expecting – and coming through unscathed, Lewis is likely to start this weekend.
Lewis said being given the chance to play again this season for club and country had come as a massive relief.
‘‘As soon as the injury happened, I was pretty frustrated and gutted. Everything bad that could happen kind of did happen.
‘‘If I was to miss that All Whites playoff, I think it would be tough for me to try to put my name up again for Danny [Hay, the national team coach] for the World Cup.
‘‘It’s something I can now look back on and feel a big sense of relief about – that I can be back
for that and hopefully get the fitness in before that time comes.’’
Lewis’ value to the Phoenix was clear to see in the second half of their 2-1 loss to City. He gave them a presence in midfield they had been lacking during their nine previous games, where Sam Sutton, Gael Sandoval, and Jacksonmanuel had all filled in alongside Nicholas Pennington.
Having him available will give coach Ufuk Talay tactical flexibility as the Phoenix look to extend their unbeaten run against Western United in all competitions to nine matches and he’s looking forward to his first taste of A-league finals football.
‘‘It’s obviously a little bit different,’’ Lewis said.
‘‘We can’t afford to lose, but at the same time, we’ve got a good bunch of lads here that knows what it takes to win.
‘‘Whenever we’ve gone up, we’ve not lost. The longer we can stay in the game the better and going into this game, we’re going to be at it. The way Uffie is going to set us up is going be good. We’re buzzing.’’