{"id":324537,"date":"2025-02-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/?p=324537"},"modified":"2025-02-13T15:15:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T02:15:42","slug":"isuzu-ute-a-league-round-19-match-preview-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/isuzu-ute-a-league-round-19-match-preview-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Isuzu UTE A-League Round 19 Match Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An important away clash looms for the Wellington Phoenix against a stuttering Melbourne Victory side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Phoenix having only won three times in 38 visits to AAMI Park does not faze head coach Giancarlo Italiano, who is maintaining an upbeat mentality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t treat it any differently, the process is the same every week,\u201d he told media on Thursday. \u201cWe do the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone ever discusses that we haven\u2019t won there. It\u2019s going to happen at some stage. We\u2019re hoping it\u2019s this game, we go into every game planning to win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the dimension of the pitch, I don\u2019t know if they poison our water when we go there, I don\u2019t know what it is, but it\u2019s going to be a big game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVictory are in a bit of a weird holding pattern as well, with a new coach. The pressure is on. They lost last week, so it\u2019s going to be a tough game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite an uptick in recent performances, the Phoenix have struggled to turn draws into wins as they hunt for a playoff spot.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, Italiano is still focused on taking the season game by game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth me personally and the coaching staff are not looking too far ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not talking about top six, or even the next game in Auckland, we\u2019re just focused on the Victory game and what we can get out of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve been really happy with is with the amount of personnel change, and all the events that have happened this season, if you zoom out we\u2019ve lost two of the last seven games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t getting a lot of wins at the moment, but with the younger players who have been playing and the new imports who are still finding their feet, we\u2019re still very competitive in all our games.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although new visa signing Francisco Geraldes will not be ready to feature until at least next round\u2019s New Zealand derby, Italiano is edging closer to a full-strength squad after injuries have rocked the team in recent weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce the other senior players start filtering back in, and we can really influence a game off the bench, because that\u2019s a very crucial part of any game, then we can start projecting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the moment, we\u2019re still at that stage where we\u2019re trying to find our feet. Once we get everyone back, seeing how many games there are left, then we can maybe calculate where our expectation is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hate to harp on about last year, but one thing we spoke about was controlling what we can control, focusing game by game, and I think that works once we stop talking about what was done before or what\u2019s going to happen in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFocusing on now is the most important thing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those returning players is club captain Alex Rufer, who is in line to feature for the first time since December after suffering glandular fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be in the ins. He\u2019s progressed nicely, and the intention is that he travels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll have some sort of part in tomorrow\u2019s game. If he\u2019s going to travel, he\u2019s going to be part of the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s way ahead of where he should be, which is good. He\u2019s had two good weeks of training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right back Tim Payne is also expected to play a larger part in the game after he made his own comeback from the bench against Brisbane Roar last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgain, it\u2019s not the intent in the game that I\u2019m worried about, it\u2019s more the training and the loads getting into his legs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Cam McIntosh\/Photomac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping for a bigger contribution from him for this game, and it\u2019s really important that as a group we can rely on his experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be good to have him back as well, and he can give us some leadership on the park.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Italiano will take a good result for the Nix however it comes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFootball\u2019s a funny thing. We could go there and play beautiful football for 89 minutes and cop one terrible goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOr, we could have no shots and it\u2019s the other way around. In this line of work, results are everything. I\u2019ll take the three points however I can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know that if we give our honest effort, like we have the last couple of months, it\u2019s going to be very hard for them to beat us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat gives me a lot of hope that we can get a positive result.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The round 19 Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory is scheduled to kick-off at AAMI Park in Melbourne at 9:35pm (7:35pm AEDT) Friday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 2 in New Zealand and on Paramount+ in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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