KEY POINTS:
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert will waste no time in pitching Brazilian guest player Fred into his starting lineup.
With Leilei Gao no longer with the club, Fred will slot into the Wellington Phoenix for tomorrow's home game against Newcastle Jets.
Fred will almost certainly play an attacking midfield role behind Shane Smeltz and Leo Bertos with Troy Hearfield dropping to the bench.
Elsewhere Herbert will stay with the players who got them home 2-1 over Sydney FC a fortnight ago. That would leave captain Andrew Durante on the bench with Manny Muscat, Ben Sigmund, Karl Dodd and Tony Lochhead to take the defensive duties.
In midfield, Tim Brown is likely to back up from Wednesday's international in Fiji and be joined by Jon McKain and Michael Ferrante.
"Like us, Newcastle have had an up-and-down start to their season," said Herbert. "Also like us, they will want three points from this one."
Herbert is welcoming Fred's appearance through to Christmas.
"He has settled straight in. Unlike Leilei Gao who struggled to settle, Fred is happy here. He knows what the A-League is about, having played for Melbourne Victory when they beat Adelaide United in the grand final."
Newcastle Jets, who welcome four of their younger players back from international duty, are a point and a place behind the Phoenix on the points table. The for and against records are similar with the Jets scoring 11 and conceding 18 while the Phoenix have scored 10 and let in 16.
The Phoenix will be back at Westpac Stadium on Friday night to play Melbourne Victory. They then head to Hindmarsh Stadium to play Adelaide United in the South Australians' last outing before meeting Waitakere United at the World Club Cup in Tokyo on December 11.
Today Adelaide play Sydney FC. Tomorrow, Queensland Roar are home to Perth Glory.
Match line-up:
*Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets.
*Westpac Stadium, 6pm tomorrow (live SS 2).
*Referee: Matthew Breeze.
Wellington Phoenix (likely): Mark Paston, Manny Muscat, Ben Sigmund, Karl Dodd, Tony Lochhead, Jon McKain, Tim Brown, Michael Ferrante, Leo Bertos, Fred, Shane Smeltz. Substitutes: G Moss, A Durante, Daniel, T Hearfield.
Newcastle Jets (from): Ante Covic, Adam Griffiths, Jade North, James Holland, Jesper Hakansson, Matt Thompson, Joel Griffiths, Jin-Hyung Song, Tarek Elrich, Jobe Wheelhouse, Adam D'Apuzzo, Shaun Ontong, Ben Kantarovski, Jason Naidovski, Ben Kennedy, Marko Jesic, Mark Milligan.
