Football: Merrick still after another striker

Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick has said his side is still searching for an experienced striker. Photo / Getty Images

Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick says his side are still searching for an experienced striker.

The Phoenix yesterday named a 30-man squad, made up of a 14-strong senior side and a 16-man Premier team, to play two pre-season matches in Fiji.

The senior side will play the Fijian national team in Suva on Saturday and in Ba next Tuesday, while the Premier squad will meet the Fijian under-23 team in curtain-raisers.

The starting dates for the upcoming A-League campaign are yet to be announced but that will give Merrick time to secure a reliable striker.

"We've been working for the past four or five months ... but we will persist to get the right person," he said.

The Phoenix can't compete in terms of the dollars offered by other clubs and Merrick also said that Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson was no longer a target.

Merrick had a strong criteria in place for the type of player he wanted to join a dangerous group of strikers led by Nathan Burns and Roy Krishna who scored plenty of goals for the Phoenix last season.

"It's to do with speed, technical ability, one-on-one dribbling skills and mobility on the pitch," Merrick said. "I generally have never gone for a striker that's a big tall, strong target man that pays with his back to goal and plays in midfielders."

The Phoenix may have wanted to bring veteran Joel Griffiths back for another season but his serious knee injury will keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

Merrick has one import spot left on his roster, so the striker could arrive from offshore.
These upcoming matches in Fiji will be the first in a string of opportunities for their academy players to push for a senior contract.

Left back Thomas Doyle made strides during last year's pre-season campaign with strong performances against West Ham United and Newcastle United, which saw him promoted to the A-League squad. Merrick would like another player to emerge in a similar fashion.

"All the pre-season youngsters will get a chance to gain a professional contract," Merrick said.

Midfielder Andrew Blake and striker Joel Stevens are likely to play for the New Zealand Under-23 side in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers in Papua New Guinea, which will give them another opportunity to impress Merrick.

Others such as Justin Gulley, who will play for the Phoenix Premiers in Fiji, would also be worth keeping an eye on, Merrick said.

Blake and Stevens will not join the Premiers in Fiji due to their commitments in Papua New Guinea next month, while Louis Fenton, Oliver Sail and Alex Rufer were unavailable for senior Phoenix team as they were also expected to be included in the New Zealand Under-23 squad.