Adrian Caceres will line-up against his former Central Coast team-mates for Wellington Phoenix on Sunday but says he does not feel he has a point to prove.
The Argentina-born Australian was told last month he did not feature in the plans of coach Lawrie McKinna and the Phoenix were quick to snap up the attacking midfielder.
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert has said Caceres will start the game against the Mariners at Westpac Stadium on Sunday, coming in for Daniel who has returned to Brazil to be with his wife Danielle and newborn daughter Luisa.
“Every time I play I have a point to prove to myself and to my family but nothing in particular to Central Coast,” said Caceres. “I’m out there to get three points with Wellington and that’s what we’ll be hoping to do.”
“The boys have made me feel welcome and from the coaching staff to the people in the office everyone’s been great. I’ve no complaints. I’m very happy I’m here. I’m very happy with the move.”
Caceres has been recovering from a hamstring strain since making the switch to Wellington and concedes he is not quite 100 percent fit yet.
But after 20-odd minutes off the bench in the 1-1 draw with the North Queensland Fury last weekend and a run out with the Phoenix reserves on Tuesday he believes he is not far away from full fitness.
“Since I’ve been here I’ve just really wanted to get fit and get back on the park. That’s what I did last week. I got myself fit and I participated a little bit last weekend and got involved. I’m really happy that I’m on the park again,” he said.
He was less happy about the result and the fact that the New Zealand side had squandered so many goal-scoring opportunities and then conceded the equaliser so deep into stoppage time.
“It was devastating. It was my first game with the club. Coming off the bench I wanted to make a good impression and even more importantly get the three points,” he said.
“I thought we did enough to get the three points, especially in the first half, but the law of football is if you don’t finish teams off early they will punish you.”
The former Mariner felt the key to defeating Central Coast on Sunday, in what will be the Phoenix’s 50th Hyundai A-League match, would be patience but more importantly being clinical in front of goal.
“You can’t get frustrated because they get behind the ball and get lots of numbers in and it can kill the game off a little bit,” Caceres said.
“But they have succeeded that way and obviously they are doing very well on the ladder doing that.”
“We’ve got to find a way to break them down and be patient and just know that we will get our chances and we definitely have to take them because there might be fewer chances this time.”
