The Wellington Phoenix are prepared for a post-holiday trip across the ditch as they take on Melbourne Victory this Monday.
“It was good for the boys to get away, enjoy Christmas,” head coach Giancarlo Italiano told media pre-match.
“Training’s been really good this week and we’ve got two hard games now, against Victory and Brisbane.
“The refresh has come at the right time.”
The game shapes as a huge opportunity for teenage ‘keeper Eamonn McCarron, who looks likely to get the nod in goal with Josh Oluwayemi unavailable through injury.
McCarron replaced Oluwayemi last Sunday against the Central Coast Mariners, but this would be his first pro start.
“Joshy won’t travel. It’s precautionary at the moment. I think he needs another week of rehab before he starts being available for first team selection.
“[Eamonn’s] done well enough in training and the game to show that he can hold his spot.
“It gives Alby a chance to come up to the bench, which is good for him because he’s been training really hard.
“It’s good to have three goalkeepers of that pedigree.”
Challenges don’t come much bigger than a trip to Melbourne, particularly for a Phoenix side who have a dismal record at AAMI Park.
“I think Victory are a very well rounded squad, they have some good depth, especially up front.
“Mata’s been very effective. He’s got a little more freedom in the ten. Players like Velupillay, very dangerous.
“Good players, good solid squad, they’ll be very tough to beat.”
A ridiculously tight table means the Nix could potentially leap to fourth with a win, or slide to eleventh with a loss.
“To throw a blanket and a generalisation that certain teams are easier than others, it’s not reflective of where the league is.
“It’s so close at the moment, from top to bottom.
“We lose one game, we go back to the bottom of the table. We win one game, back in contention for the six.
“Going to games, thinking you’re going to win easily, I think those days are gone.”
And Italiano is convinced that this set of players will push the club up the ladder.
“I have more belief in this team than I have in my seven years here. As a collective, I think the team is very good.
“You can argue that the team is a little bit of a misfit team, in terms of where players have come from, their trajectory and where they’ve played before.
“There’s a lot of boys here who have a lot to prove. For everything that’s been said about our team over the year, I think we’ve been in every game.”
The round 10 Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory is scheduled to kick-off at AAMI Park in Melbourne at 9pm Monday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 2 in New Zealand, and on Paramount+ in Australia.
Most recent meeting: 12 April 2025 – Wellington Phoenix 2 Melbourne Victory 3
All-time A-League head-to-head: Phoenix 13W, Victory 27W & 14D.
Wellington Phoenix squad (two to be omitted): 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Manjrekar JAMES, 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE, 7. Ifeanyi EZE, 8. Paulo RETRE, 11. Carlo ARMIENTO, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 17. Gabriel SLOANE-RODRIGUES, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD, 20. Ramy NAJJARINE, 24. Xuan LOKE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN, 29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH, 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 31. RYAN LEE, 37. Anaru CASSIDY, 39. Jayden SMITH, 40. Eamonn MCCARRON (gk).
Unavailable: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk) (injured), 6. Tim PAYNE (injured), 9. Hideki ISHIGE (injured), 10. Nikola MILEUSNIC (injured), 12. Dan EDWARDS (injured), 19. Nathan WALKER (injured), 23. Luke SUPYK (injured).
Melbourne Victory squad (two to be omitted): 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 64. Juan MATA
Unavailable: 5. Brendan HAMILL (injured), 7. Reno PISCOPO (injured), 18. Franco LINO (injured)
Cover photo credit: Photomac/Cam McIntosh
