Combative Wellington Phoenix midfielder Vince Lia says he won’t be changing the way he plays despite missing his side’s last two Hyundai A-League matches through suspension.
Lia was shown his eighth yellow card of the season in the 2-0 loss to Perth which kept him out of the 4-0 hammering in Melbourne and last weekend’s 1-0 win against Adelaide in front of a record-crowd in Christchurch.
Now back in selection contention for this Sunday’s crucial clash on the Gold Coast, the 24-year-old Australian says he won’t be curbing his style.
“I was sitting on a potential suspension for about four or five weeks and I was holding back a little bit and I think it impacted on the way I play,” he explained.
“I’m just going to keep going out there doing what I’m doing and if I get booked I get booked.”
“It’s not ideal but I think if you look back at most of the yellow cards they were pretty soft.”
“It’s always going to be difficult when you’re playing in the midfield and there’s so many times when there are 50-50s and in the heat of the battle.”
“But that’s behind me now and I’m back on a clean slate and I’ve got two games to do well and hopefully push on into the finals.”
The midfielder is not expecting referees to single him out because of his disciplinary record either.
“I don’t think I’m a nasty player. I don’t think the refs look at me in that sort of way,” he added.
Gold Coast, chasing the minor premiership and on a seven-game unbeaten streak, will be eager to erase the painful memories of its 6-0 hammering at Westpac Stadium last October and Lia is expecting to face a backlash at Skilled Park, where the two sides played out a goalless draw earlier in the season.
“There’s no doubt they will want to get us back a little bit and they are flying at the moment,” he said. “But we’ve done well against them so the boys are pretty confident.”
The final two weeks of the regular season are going down to the wire with eight teams still with a chance of making the top six.
Wellington sits in fifth knowing victory against second-placed Gold Coast will ensure a top six-spot and keep alive hopes of making the top four and securing the all-important home advantage in the first week of the finals series.
“We’ve probably got to win the next two games to secure top four and that’s a position we’re looking at getting,” said Lia.
“I think we’re good enough to go to the Gold Coast and get all three points but we’re going to have to be on top of our game.”
