As her side bid for redemption against Canberra United, Wellington boss Natalie Lawrence has asked: will the real Wellington Phoenix please stand up?
Canberra claimed a 3-0 win when the two sides met in the Liberty A-League earlier this season.
Following that defeat the Phoenix, who remain the only winless team in the competition, have turned a corner.
They pushed Adelaide, Western United and Perth close in narrow losses, as well as picking up a point in a 1-1 draw against Western Sydney.
Lawrence hopes that elusive win will come on Sunday when her side welcome Canberra to Wellington’s Sky Stadium.
“I think that (3-0 loss to Canberra) was a big turning point for us,” Lawrence said.
“What that game allowed us to do was reset and really focus on some of the key progressions that we wanted.
“We were really disappointed with how we played.
“I don’t think they played against the (real) Phoenix that day, so we need to show them what it’s like to play against the Phoenix.
“We want to right those wrongs of that game.
“We know they’ve just come off a 5-1 win (over Newcastle), so we know their threats, but we want them to play against the proper Phoenix.”
Still without skipper and goalkeeper Lily Alfeld, Lawrence was hopeful four of her players involved in Saturday’s Football Ferns game against the United States in Auckland would be able to feature against Canberra.
The Phoenix boss said she had devised a rotation policy with New Zealand national team coach Jitka Klimkova which would allow Paige Satchell, Mackenzie Barry, Grace Wisnewski and Brianna Edwards to play on Sunday.
“We’re really happy with the plan that we’ve put in place,” Lawrence added.
” I spoke to Jitka again and she’s all across all of the minutes and the importance of the game that we have.
“I think we’ve managed to manage it pretty well between the two of us to get the best out of both worlds.”