Soccer: Phoenix look for win to avoid record

Tim Brown is one of six Phoenix players returning from All Whites duty. Photo / Getty Images

The Wellington Phoenix's All White contingent return to the soccer bread and butter of the A-League this weekend, hoping to help the club to do better than set a competition record.

The Phoenix are on a run of five draws, and another one against the North Queensland Fury in Townsville on Saturday would mean a new milestone for consecutive stalemates in the four-year-old league.

It would also equal the mark shared by the Brisbane Lions and St George in the old National Soccer League.

The points that have eluded the Phoenix as they have failed to turn draws into victories have kept them in the bottom three, just one point above the last-placed Fury.

Vice-captain Tim Brown, back from the All Whites' 0-0 draw in Bahrain last weekend in the first leg of their World Cup playoff, saw the situation as glass half-full, rather than glass half-empty.

"You could quite easily turn the five draws into a negative or you could turn it into a positive," he said.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's an unbeaten streak."

The midfielder, in his third season with the club, was confident the Phoenix had the goods to turn their fortunes around.

What was needed was continued belief in their ability and a bit more composure in the attacking third of the pitch.

"I think the signs are looking really positive for us," he said.

"As I've said all along, I've never felt so good about the club and the players that we've got here."

Nevertheless, putting the ball in the net has become an issue for the Phoenix, who haven't scored for 264 minutes despite creating chances.

In their last match, they had the upper hand over high-flying Gold Coast, but just couldn't break the deadlock.

The last time a Phoenix player grabbed a goal was against the Robbie Fowler-skippered Fury, when Leo Bertos finished off a well-worked move in the sixth minute.

But the contest at Westpac Stadium ended in heartbreak for the home side, as the Fury equalised deep into stoppage time, and Brown hasn't forgotten.

"It wasn't a great feeling, I'll be honest with you, and we copped a fair bit of flak over that," he said.

"But it's a fresh start and a fresh game at the weekend and hopefully we can put that right."

Brown and Bertos are among six Phoenix players back from New Zealand duty, along with goalkeeper Mark Paston, defenders Ben Sigmund and Tony Lochhead, and unused substitute David Mulligan.

The Phoenix have five A-League matches before the return leg against Bahrain in Wellington on November 14 and Brown said focusing on the immediate task at hand wouldn't be a problem.

"As great as the World Cup hoopla is, and there is a lot of it, the Phoenix put our food on the table," he said.

"It's our day job and we have a very, very big game this weekend."

For Brown and the rest of the All White contingent, their travel schedule could be a factor against the Fury, who have the added incentive that they will climb above the Phoenix with a win.

The trip back from Bahrain to Wellington involved four flights, and there are two more today to get from Wellington to Townsville.

"It's difficult, but you just have to be mentally tuned in," Brown said.

"The body is by no means going to be 100 per cent, but you do everything right and just try to get through it."

- NZPA