Phoenix face under-powered start to season

It is cruel that for all their offseason toil, the Wellington Phoenix will start their road to redemption with a severely weakened side tomorrow.

Seven players are missing through injury or international duty, including the captain (Andrew Durante), gun goalscorer (Jeremy Brockie) and No 1 goalkeeper (Glen Moss).

New coach Ernie Merrick was aware of the situation when he signed on and there is no point whinging but it makes the task an enormous one.

While they are without Socceroo Matt McKay, Brisbane Roar remain a side dripping with talent and scored 11 goals in a recent preseason game.

It is unfortunate for the Phoenix that the A-League ignores Fifa windows and hopes of a win at Westpac Stadium should be tempered.

In a cobbled together line-up, Jacob Spoonley will start in goal, while Reece Caira and Luke Adams are set to make their Phoenix debuts at fullback either side of stand-in skipper Ben Sigmund and Michael Boxall.

Expect Brisbane to target the inexperienced flank men and they have ample resources to do so through Thomas Broich, Ivan Franjic and Henrique, while Besart Berisha lurks menacingly up front.

Merrick knows his new-look side is dog tucker if they allow central midfielders Liam Miller and Luke Brattan time and space.

‘‘This game is going to hinge on the midfield,’’ Merrick said.

‘‘If we allow Brisbane Roar to take control and get their passing going in midfield, they’re going to cut up our back four. So it really is how we shut down midfield and create our chances from winning the ball in the middle.’’

That responsibility lies with terriers Manny Muscat and Vince Lia, with former league MVP Carlos Hernandez an outlet of a qual- ity that the club has never boasted before.

‘‘Last year they’d win the ball and we’d lose it again, they’d have to win it again, they’d lose it again,’’ Merrick said.

‘‘Now Carlos holds the ball well, Kenny [Cunningham] holds the ball well, Stein’s [Huysegems] terrific at keeping the ball, Paul Ifill, Jason Hicks. So I think we’ve got the type of midfield that we need to close down Brisbane Roar.’’

It could well be a bumpy start to the season for the Phoenix, who don’t return to Wellington until December.

Merrick predicted it would take eight or nine games for the team to start hitting its straps but the overall goals for the season were high.

‘‘Finals football. I think it’s realistic to be in the top-six and the players have set that goal, not me. I think if the fans have high expectations of us, that’s good. I’d rather they expect us to do well, score goals and win games than think ‘oh, we’re just another side, we’re just going to languish at the bottom’. So I don’t mind high expectation at all.’’

Hernandez, Cunningham and Ifill have recovered from injury and should all start against the Roar.

‘‘[Hernandez] tells me every day what his weight is,’’ Merrick said.

‘‘He came at 85.5kg and even this morning he goes ‘I’ve lost another 300g.’ He’s down to just over 80kg. If my memory serves me right, when he won MVP, best player in the A-League, I think he was 84 . . . It’s probably the best shape I’ve ever seen him in.

‘‘His mobility around ground has been first-class.’’

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