Paul Ifill is rated only a 50-50 chance for Wellington’s Hyundai A-League match against Central Coast on Sunday.
The English import limped out of the Phoenix’s heartbreaking 1-1 draw with the North Queensland Fury with a hamstring strain after less than an hour last weekend.
“Paul will probably miss training right up to Saturday, so it will be a pretty late call on him,” admitted Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert.
“He’s probably gone from 70-30 to 50-50. Time is the only real thing in our favour at the moment.”
Daniel will definitely miss Sunday’s clash at Westpac Stadium as he has flown to Brazil to be with his wife Danielle and their newborn daughter Luisa.
The Brazilian’s absence means Adrian Caceres, who made his debut off the bench last weekend, will start his first match for the Phoenix against his former team.
Caceres is on his way back from a hamstring strain but had a good outing with the reserves on Tuesday.
“We kind of planned that this week would be the starting week for Adrian and it just happens to be his old club,” explained Herbert. “He will want to do well. He wasn’t given an opportunity there and I’m sure he will want to step up and perform really well.”
“We’ve got to channel that into a performance for us. He came on and did very well in the latter part of the game at the weekend. If he can continue that right from the start I think he’ll be a handful for them.”
Herbert also wants to see some better finishing from his side which has squandered a plethora of chances in the past three weeks.
That inability to finish off teams has cost them six points after 1-1 draws against Adelaide, Melbourne and North Queensland.
“It’s frustrating but at the end of the day if we weren’t creating them then you’d be more worried,” Herbert said.
“It’s just really about taking some of those chances now. We’ve created over 38 chances in the last three games.”
“We’re the form team in the league as far as creating chances. We’re doing things right except for putting them in the back of the net.”
Sunday’s match will be the Phoenix’s 50th Hyundai A-League game – a milestone Herbert felt deserved recognition, particularly given the chequered history of New Zealand teams in the competition.
“Not many other franchises in New Zealand survive that long so we must be doing something right. It’s a proud moment,” said the Phoenix coach.
“It’s an extra bit of history into the club. I think these milestones need to be celebrated a bit more in football.”
“It’s a good achievement. Hopefully we can turn it into three points and we’ll all be happy.”
