Wellington Phoenix start the year against Mariners

Wellington Phoenix will have their first challenge of the new year when they enter the pitch to play against Central Coast Mariners for the Hyundai A-League. Phoenix did not lose match in their last seven encounters – four wins and three draws.

The new sponsored name stadium – Sky Stadium – will see the former Wellington Phoenix player Gianni Stensness to take the pitch for Mariners against the New Zealand side. The All Whites member Michael McGlinchey also is part of the CCM squad.

After the contract extensions of four players in Wellington – Tim Payne, Jaushua Sotirio, Steven Taylor and Alex Rufer – Phoenix come to the pitch with a lot of confidence with a very good run in the league so far.

Alex Rufer, that missed the last games for Kiwi side, is available to be back to action, but he is not likely to start: Cameron Devlin is doing a fantastic job in the midfield since he entered to replace the injured Rufer and his partnership with Matti Steinmann seems to be very productive for the Nix.

Ulises Davila scored again for Phoenix in their previous match to have eight in the season so far. Callum McCowatt also scored his first goal for the club in the 3-1 win against Western United.

Despite the good moment, the regular starter Reno Piscopo will be missing the next matches of the club as he joined Australian U23 side to compete at continental level for a spot in the Tokyo Olympic Men’s Football tournament. It opens another possibility for English marksman Gary Hooper to have his so waited second start of the season.

The New Zealanders are still in the 6th position in the table. However a win against Mariners can put them closer to the top spots in the league. Avoiding a defeat in this match will keep Phoenix in their undefeated run extending it to eight games in a row.

The match will be telecasted by SkySport and can be watched on internet at MyFootball YouTube channel for all fans overseas that do not have the opportunity to watch it on TV.