Wellington Phoenix have been buoyed ahead of their do-or-die match with Western Sydney Wanderers with the news that striker and leading goalscorer Andrija Kaludjerović has recovered from injury, and that new signing Monty Patterson has been deemed fit enough to join the travelling squad.
Youngest Sarpreet Singh also returns from the knock that kept him out of both Hyundai A-League selection and ISPS Handa Premiership duties but Roy Krishna remains not yet ready to return.
Phoenix travel to Sydney to play the Round 7 Hyundai A-League game from mid-November that had to be rescheduled after concerns over Wanderer’s home stadium playing surface.
Wellington enjoy a good run against Josep Gombau-managed sides, having not lost their last three, but face nemesis Brendan Santalab who has scored a remarkable eight goals in his last five games against the Nix.
It’s a full squad to choose from for the hosts except for Spanish winger Alvaro Cejudo – but the arrival of Socceroo Chris Ikonomidis and the return to goal-scoring form of youngster Jaushua Sotirio means Gombau will have plenty of attacking options out wide.
Match Details:
Hyundai A-League Round 7 (rescheduled), Sunday 11 February 2018.
Western Sydney Wanderers v Wellington Phoenix, ANZ Stadium, 7pm
TV Coverage Sky Sport 1, from 9pm (NZT).
Wellington Phoenix squad: 1.Lewis ITALIANO (Gk), 2.Daniel MULLEN, 3.Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Goran PARACKI, 6.Dylan FOX, 7.Nathan BURNS, 8.Matija LJUJIC, 9.Andrija KALUDJEROVIC 10.Michael MCGLINCHEY, 12.Adam PARKHOUSE, 14.Alex RUFER, 17.Monty PATTERSON, 18.Sarpreet SINGH, 22.Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.Matthew RIDENTON, 26.Liberato CACACE, 30.Keegan SMITH (Gk)
**one to be omitted**
Ins: 9.Andrija KALUDJEROVIC (returns from injury), 17.Monty PATTERSON (new signing), 18.Sarpreet SINGH (returns from injury)
Outs: 13.Marco ROSSI (omitted), 24.Logan ROGERSON (omitted)
Unavailable: 5.Ryan LOWRY (quad strain), 19.Tom DOYLE (groin – 1-2 weeks), 21. Roy KRISHNA (hamstring)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 3.Jack CLISBY, 4.Josh RISDON, 5.Brendan HAMILL, 6.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 7.Steven LUSTICA, 8.Roly BONEVACIA, 9.Oriol RIERA, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 15.Kearyn BACCUS, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 18.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (Gk), 24.Raul LLORENTE, 25.Chris HERD, 33.Michael THWAITE, 40.Nicholas SUMAN (Gk), 42.Keanu BACCUS
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 25.Chris HERD (promoted), 42.Keanu BACCUS (returns from suspension)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 10.Álvaro CEJUDO (injured – 1 week)
