Rabo may be rested

Wairarapa United may rest star striker Pita Rabo from their Capital Soccer premier division match with Petone at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton on Saturday.
Rabo has been troubled for some weeks with a sore knee and a medical report on his condition will be assessed by Wairarapa United officialdom before a decision is made on his availability.
With Petone yet to taste defeat in premier division play Wairarapa United would dearly love to be the first team to lower their colours and manager Phil Keinzley readily concedes their chances of doing so would be lessened if Rabo was sidelined.
The pacy Fijian is their most prolific goal scorer and while his absence would see another talented Fijian in Lai Gataurua replace him in the starting line-up Rabo's knack of turning half-chances into goals would obviously be missed.
But with the following weekend's Chatham Cup last 16 fixture against holders Western Suburbs in mind, Wairarapa United don't want to risk Rabo aggravating his injury before then.
"If the doctor says the injury could worsen by playing against Petone then there is a very strong likelihood we won't play him," Keinzley said of Rabo. "The Chatham Cup is the main priority and we'll be selecting Saturday's team on that basis."
Also under an injury cloud going into the Petone match is Wairarapa United fullback Petero Dauniseka but while his foot injury is still giving him some pain Keinzley expects him to be him to be fit by Saturday.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa United are hoping for a crowd at least as big as the 1000-plus which attended last Sunday's "friendly" between Wellington Phoenix and the national under-20s for their Chatham Cup match at the Sports Bowl on Sunday week. Not only are Western Suburbs the current Cup holders but their line-up is chockful of players who have played at the top provincial level for Team Wellington.
Against a Capital premier division side like Wairarapa United, Western Suburbs will start the hottest of favourites but with the Chatham Cup being a knockout series Keinzley is hopeful the extra pressure on them will have a big say in the end result.
"They are on a hiding to nothing & everybody will be expecting them to win but then every team has their bad days too," he said. "Mentally it has to be tougher on them and if we can get into their heads then who knows what might happen."
Keinzley says local supporters could help in this respect as the more "pain" they gave Western Suburbs and Petone on Saturday for that matter- the better it would be for Wairarapa United.
"Like any team we generally react well when the crowd is behind us and we're going to need them in these games, that's for sure," he said.