Wellington Phoenix wary of underperformers

A STAR team should, so the theory goes, always beat a team of stars.

But it hasn’t quite worked out that way between the Phoenix and the Victory.

In 14 contests, the Melbourne club has won six times, the Wellingtonians just twice.

Even this season, with the bluecollar Phoenix finals-bound and the Victory imploding in spectacular fashion, the A-league’s glamour club has prevailed both times.

A somewhat fortuitous 2-1 win in Wellington was followed by a 3-1 triumph at AAMI Park, when the Victory played some of the best football of an otherwise forgettable campaign, scoring all three goals in a 20-minute burst.

It’s why Phoenix captain Andrew Durante is on red-alert ahead of tonight’s match-up, in which a point would guarantee the Phoenix a top-four finish and at least one home final.

‘‘For some reason they always seem to lift against us,’’ Durante said. ‘‘We’ve learnt a lot from the last game, we got opened up way too easy and it wasn’t a usual Phoenix, disciplined, defensive style of game. We were chasing balls everywhere so we’ve just spoken about making sure we keep our shape and not getting sucked out of position.

‘‘But we’ve got to really take the game to them and not let them dictate the play. We want to try and get at them, they’re the team sitting at the bottom of the table and we’ve got semifinals coming up, so we need to be aggressive.’’

The Phoenix have spent the week in Melbourne following the 1-1 draw against the Heart.

Leo Bertos, who missed the Heart game with a cut knee, has recovered and is available, and Nick Ward and Alex Smith also have strong selection claims.

While the Phoenix are looking to peak for the playoffs, the Victory are limping towards the finish line, with their faint finals hopes extinguished in last weekend’s loss to Sydney FC.

Their focus has already turned to making amends next season, with coach Jim Magilton putting current players on notice and yesterday signing Gold Coast fullback Adama Traore.

‘‘To be honest I’ve got no idea how they’re going to approach it,’’ Durante said. ‘‘They could either have the attitude that their season is over and could come out and be sloppy. But on the other hand they could come out fired up and try to prove people wrong. So I don’t know, we’re prepared for either. If they come out firing we’ve got to be able to match it and if they come out a bit sloppy we’ve got to be able to punish them.’’

The Phoenix have never won in Melbourne and Durante admitted that if the Victory did turn up to play, then a point would not be a