Wellington Phoenix head coach Chris Greenacre is calling for another brave showing from his players at AAMI Park.
The Phoenix are returning to Melbourne’s rectangular stadium to play Melbourne City on Sunday afternoon, a week on from their drought-breaking 1-0 win over cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory.
It was Wellington’s first win at AAMI Park in nine years.
“First and foremost I just wanted us to be brave and get on the ball,” Greenacre told media after training on Thursday.
“Bravery is just not about being physical and being hard to beat, it’s about wanting the ball and wanting to do the hard part of the game; win tackles [and] win headers.
“The most pleasing thing was we had players that wanted the ball and as soon as that starts to happen you can dictate how you want to play a little bit more than normal.
“That’s how I want to coach and how I want my teams to play.
“They’re listening to the advice we’re giving them and the way we want to try and break teams down, and they’re really taking that onboard. Whenever you’ve got a group of players doing that, it’s a privilege to coach.
“Whether you get the results or not is a different matter but first and foremost is getting a team that wants to get on the ball and be brave is what I want.
“They’re delivering that at the moment so we have to keep doing that. It won’t just happen…we have to really work hard at doing that and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
It was the Phoenix’s third straight win to lift them to eighth on the ladder, just two points adrift of the top six, but Greenacre says he hasn’t started to look at the table now.
“You don’t want to hear it, but no I’m not.
“We needed to keep churning day after day [and] every moment on the training field matters, and that’s what we’ll continue doing.
“At the end of it we’ll see…the outcome and see where we go. If finals are our destiny, then we’ll prepare for that and if they’re not, we can say we’ve had a really good go at it.
“I’ll continue with that mindset.”
Melbourne City are holding the sixth and final playoff berth after a 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday night, making it a virtual finals game for both sides.
“To be honest every game we’ve had has been like a final for us. If we want to have any chance of being involved in the business end of the season every game is a final for us and has been.
“I know it’s really boring for you guys in the media listening to that but I can’t be any more honest than I am.
“We’ll continue to just grind the minutes away and if that becomes an option for us then we’ll be ready, don’t worry about that.”
Sunday’s match is the meeting of the competition’s two form teams. Both the Nix and City are unbeaten in their past four matches with three wins and a draw each.
“They’re a good side. You look at them on paper they’re a really good team.
“They’ve got some really outstanding footballers all across the board so again it will be a really tough game for us.
“They’re starting to find their rhythm a little bit. They’ve won their last two as well so obviously they’re getting their form going.
“It’ll be a really good match-up I think, but we’re going to go there and give it everything we’ve got.
“Hopefully we can get the result that the performance deserves, more than anything.”
Chris Greenacre has a near full-strength squad to pick from. All Whites fullback Tim Payne has trained this week after missing the last trip to Melbourne with a tight hamstring, while All Whites playmaker Sarpreet Singh has taken part in more sessions as he returns from a knee injury.
The round 24 Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne City is scheduled to kick-off at AAMI Park in Melbourne at 5pm (3pm AEST) Sunday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 3 in New Zealand, and on Paramount+ in Australia.
Most recent meeting: 30 January 2026 – Wellington Phoenix 2 Melbourne City 2
All-time A-League head-to-head: Phoenix 12W, City 21W & 9D.
Wellington Phoenix squad (two to be omitted): 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Manjrekar JAMES, 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE, 6. Tim PAYNE, 7. Ifeanyi EZE, 8. Paulo RETRE, 10. Nikola MILEUSNIC, 11. Carlo ARMIENTO, 12. Dan EDWARDS, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 16. Sander KARTUM, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD, 20. Ramy NAJJARINE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN, 28. Bill TUILOMA, 29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH, 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk).
Unavailable: 9. Sarpreet SINGH (injured).
Melbourne City squad (two to be omitted): 1. Patrick BEACH (gk), 2. Harrison DELBRIDGE, 8. Ryan TEAGUE, 11. Elbasan RASHANI, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 14. Daniel ARZANI, 15. Andrew NABBOUT, 16. Aziz BEHICH (c), 17. Max CAPUTO, 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 20. Ben MAZZEO, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 28. Marcus YOUNIS, 30. Andreas KUEN, 35. Medin MEMETI, 36. Harry SHILLINGTON, 39. Emin DURAKOVIC, 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN (gk), 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
Unavailable: 7. Mathew LECKIE (injured), 10. Takeshi KANAMORI (injured), 21. Alessandro LOPANE (injured).
