Newcomers Wellington Phoenix have yet to win a game in the Liberty A-League season, but they’ve probably never had a better opportunity than they get on Sunday.
The Phoenix have only mustered one goal in their inaugural A-League Women campaign and the young squad mentored by Gemma Lewis has lost five on the trot.
Those five losses include a 5-0 shellacking by Sydney FC and a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Melbourne City.
But on Sunday in Wollongong they face a Brisbane side who are leaking two goals per game and have registered only one win from six games this year.
Lewis, however, was wary that despite Brisbane’s shaky start, they would be eyeing the Phoenix clash as a game to put their own season on track.
“You cannot tell me that they’re not going to be targeting us for three points and throwing everything at this game,” Lewis said.
“The girls need to be mindful of not being complacent, not thinking that this is going to be an easier game to City.
“Brisbane have pace in the flanks, we’ve seen how we deal with pace in the flanks at times.
“I don’t think just because it’s Brisbane, we’re all of a sudden going to have like 20 shots. We’re still going to have to be converting the ones that we have.
“I think a difference maker would be if we could really put them under the pump early or even nick one.
“We’ve seen ourselves when the game goes for long periods of time with no goal and the confidence builds.
“So I can only feel if we can get one and go up in a game like, is that going to shift our confidence even more and push us into that next gear.”
Defender Saskia Vosper is likely to return via the bench for the Phoenix after picking up a groin complaint.
The outlook is less positive for forward Kelli Brown who complained of delayed concussion following the loss to City.
“She has an extensive history with concussion so we have to take it really seriously,” Lewis said.
“We ruled her out for this week and now she’s with the doctors and she’ll go through the clear-to-play process.
“We don’t actually know how long she’ll be out for yet.”