Wellington Phoenix have one final chance to jump off the bottom of the Liberty A-League table in their final-round clash with defending champions Melbourne Victory.
Phoenix head coach Natalie Lawrence says they’re eager to “spoil the party and have our own” by derailing the reigning champions’ finals bid on Saturday.
“That’s always a nice thing in football, isn’t it, if you can spoil someone’s party?” she said on Friday.
READ: Premiership and top four on the line – Every scenario in the Liberty A-League’s final round
The Sky Stadium showdown will kick-off a cracking final round of the league, with both clubs’ seasons on the line.
Injury-plagued Victory haven’t been in Premiership contention this campaign but will back themselves for another title tilt if they can squeak into the four-team finals.
Currently in fourth, they will make the finals with a better result than Canberra United, who play Melbourne City on Sunday in a winner-plays-finals affair.
A Victory loss in Wellington would also open the door for Perth, who could sneak fourth by beating Brisbane, a Canberra loss, and a plus-three goal difference swing.
The Phoenix were wooden-spooners last season and want to avoid that ignominy this campaign, but fluffed their big chance last weekend with a 3-2 loss to second-bottom Newcastle Jets.
Two points behind the Jets, they will overtake them by beating Victory and hoping the Novocastrians lose to title hopefuls Sydney FC.
Scrapping to avoid the spoon is well below where the Nix thought they’d be.
At the start of the campaign, Phoenix chief executive David Dome told AAP “the expectation is this team gets in or around the finals,” but on Friday, Lawrence insisted on more modest goals.
“The goal was always to not finish bottom,” she said.
Lawrence, drafted in as senior coach at the last minute, said she viewed the season as a success.
“The league doesn’t have relegation which does afford you a little bit of patience,” she said.
“When you look at our performances, whilst they haven’t always had results, the performances we’ve been really pleased with.”
This season, the Phoenix have also defined themselves by their contribution to the national team, which is co-hosting the World Cup with Australia come July.
Six Nix players will head off to national team duty on Sunday, including emerging talents Milly Clegg and Michaela Robertson.
“I look at the core of the of the squad and what football we’ve managed to produce and I do see that as success. I do see that as something really exciting to build on,” Lawrence said.
Only Alyssa Whinham and Chloe Knott have re-signed for next year, but Lawrence said the core of the squad was keen to stay on.
