The Wellington Phoenix will be hoping for a more water-tight defence this Sunday in Wellington when it looks to right its A-League soccer ship against the Central Coast Mariners.
Following their leaking of two late goals in the 3-3 result with Gold Coast at a waterlogged Wellington stadium, all the other signs point to a win for the Phoenix, unbeaten in 20 games at home.
The Phoenix is favourite with the bookies. It beat the Mariners twice and drew once last season.
However, so far this season the Mariners have beaten Melbourne Heart 1-0 away and drawn with Adelaide United 1-1 and will want to celebrate striker Adam Kwasnik's 100th A-League appearance on Sunday.
Of his 99 games so far, 87 have been in Central Coast colours, while the other 12 were for the Phoenix.
Another player lining up against his old club is Phoenix striker Dylan Macallister, who spent two seasons in Gosford.
He said this match was one he underlined in ink.
"Hopefully we can get one over on them on Sunday. Playing against your old team is always special but I have to make sure I prepare for it like I would any game.
"In saying that, I guess it's fair to say it's not just another game but I need to keep the emotions out of it and really stick to what I do best."
The 1.93m Macallister admitted he had two relatively disappointing seasons with the Mariners, used primarily off the bench by then coach Lawrie McKinna.
"Last year was a tough one for me. I had a shoulder reconstruction in the off-season and didn't really start well. I was kind of battling all year to find form and keep my spot in the team.
"But I'm really happy to be here with the Phoenix. It's a step forward for me. They were looking for a player like me and we play a style of football and formation that really suits my game. So I'm looking forward to playing a lot of football this year, doing a job for the Phoenix and scoring goals along the way."
The Phoenix had been concentrating on defence during training this week after they conceded three goals, despite having the second best defence in the A-League last season, conceding a miserly 29 goals in 27 games.
"But we want to start strong from the front. The defence starts with me and Greenie (fellow striker Chris Greenacre) up front. We'll have to be better at set-pieces as well. The Mariners are good at that part of the game and we conceded from one last weekend.
"But we have to come out and play attacking football, that's our strength. We're at home and there's no reason why we can't go out, score three goals again and really get stuck into them."
Former Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Griffin McMaster has been signed as a short-term injury replacement for the injured Reece Crowther.
McMaster (27) joins the Phoenix from Victorian Premier League side Oakleigh Cannons. Crowther is expected to be out of Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert said an unchanged starting XI from last week was likely.
