The Wanderers will be looking to turnaround their recent results against Wellington Phoenix when they travel across the Tasman for their second meeting with the side this Saturday.
The Wanderers will be looking to turnaround their recent results against Wellington Phoenix when they travel across the Tasman for their second meeting with the side this Saturday.
Phoenix got the better of the Red & Black in their encounter in Round 9 at Eden Park in Auckland thanks to a penalty in the dying minutes of the game.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then with the Kiwis going on an unbeaten run of six games straight while the Wanderers have turned the corner with a win and a draw in their past three games after going through a rough patch of five successive defeats.
The Wanderers will be coming off a 2-1 loss to Brisbane Roar at home on New Years Day but will welcome back influential midfielder Pirmin Schwegler, who missed the game through suspension.
However, they will still be without midfielder Keanu Baccus and defender Tass Mourdoukoutas, who are away on Olyroos duty.
Games between the two sides have always been hard fought, producing plenty of action with both clubs producing a combined total of 50 goals in their last 13 meetings.
The Wanderers don’t mind the trip across the ditch having won three and drawn twice in their last seven games away, although the Phoenix have had the better of them in their past three games overall with three straight wins.
The game is also shaping up as a great opportunity for the Red & Black to kick start their run to the Finals series.
As the Wanderers approach the half way stage of the Hyundai A-League season, the Red & Black are in eighth spot with 14 points but, significantly, are just four behind fourth-placed Phoenix, three adrift of fifth-placed Western United and just a point behind sixth-placed Adelaide United.
Captain Mitchell Duke, who scored in the club’s loss to the Roar, will be looking to continue his goalscoring feats this season.
Duke has five goals to his name and is in the Top 10 in the Hyundai A-League’s leading scorers this season.
The forward needs just one more goal to equal his best return (six goals) in a Hyundai A-League season, which he achieved during the 2012/13 season with Central Coast.
