Hyundai A-League Minor Semi-Final Preview – Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets

Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets – Westpac Stadium, Sunday 7 March 2010They may have only edged Perth Glory out in a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory a fortnight ago, but Wellington Phoenix will still be installed as strong favourites to continue their finals run by beating Newcastle Jets on Sunday. Phoenix’s incredible record at Westpac Stadium is well-documented, they have not been beaten there since November 2008 and they will be confident of extending that run in front of what is expected to be a near-capacity crowd. In terms of team news, Ricki Herbert will be casting an anxious eye over Australia’s midweek Asian Cup Qualifier against Indonesia with skipper Andrew Durante included in Pim Verbeek’s squad. Fellow defender Jon McKain has also been called up by the Socceroos, but will miss the Jets game through suspension after receiving a red card against Perth. Otherwise, Phoenix have reported no fresh injury concerns, although Adrian Caceres is a doubt due to family reasons.

As for the Jets, they made light of a run of four consecutive defeats to pull off a shock victory over Gold Coast and will therefore be happy to assume the role of underdogs again this week. Although industrious midfielder Jobe Wheelhouse is struggling to overcome a groin problem in time to feature in Sunday’s do-or-die showdown, Tarek Elrich has made a quicker than expected recovery from the knee strain he picked up in the latter stages against Gold Coast and has declared himself a certain starter. A quadriceps injury has brought Michael Bridges’ season to a premature end, leaving Labinot Haliti, Sean Rooney, Sasho Petrovski and youngster Mirjan Pavlovic to battle it out for the starting spots up front.

The Jets may have turned in an improved display against Gold Coast last time out, but they again failed to score other than in the shoot-out and with key man Bridges unavailable, it’s hard to see them causing too many problems for Wellington’s sturdy rearguard. The home side did not let being hot favourites faze them against Perth and they are unlikely to do so this week either.

Phoenix to continue their run and give football across the ditch yet another boost in the process.