Soccer: Confident Kingz on a roll

By Terry Maddaford

Buoyed by his team's first back-to-back wins of the season - after last Sunday's 3-1 victory over South Melbourne - Football Kingz assistant coach Shane Rufer is looking to stretch that run to three against Newcastle in Wellington this afternoon.

But he still refuses to talk of a place in the top six play-offs.

"That is the first time we have won two in a row," said Rufer. "Now we have to go after three. The whole squad is playing well and if they continue in the same vein I'm sure we can win both at home and away.

"But finishing in the top six is not in my thoughts. We just have to take it one game at a time."

Consistency was paramount and complacency was the enemy, he said.

"We must stay focused and give 100 per cent effort - all the time. We can't afford stupid errors or silly yellow cards. We have been working on game intelligence and must continue to do that."

The Kingz drew 1-1 in Newcastle with a cracking late Wynton Rufer goal snatching a point.

Newcastle go into the game at WestpacTrust Stadium in third place with 35 points from 20 games. The Kingz, in eighth, have 29 from 19.

Whether Wynton Rufer plays or not will be decided this morning after he arrives back from Switzerland.

"He is more likely to be on the bench," said Shane Rufer. "We also have doubts about Robbie Middleby, Jonathan Perry and Chris Jackson while Che Bunce will be back."

Lee Jones would miss the game through suspension while Jason Batty and Aaran Lines had yet to fully recover from injury.

"Batram Suri, who played his second part-game of the season in Melbourne, could be involved again. He did well when he came on. They [Newcastle] are on a great run but so are we. We have built our fitness levels and, more importantly, our self-belief."