Wanganui City and Wanganui Athletic don't have good buildup to derby fixture

Wanganui City's Anthony Bell looks to evade Wanganui Athletic's James Satherley in the first derby match back in April. The sides will rematch today.

The air might have been let a little bit out of the tyres, but both Versatile Wanganui City and GJ Gardner Wanganui Athletic vow they will still race as hard as they can in the return derby game to kickoff the second round of Lotto Federation League this afternoon.

It has been an unsatisfying buildup for all concerned, as weather conditions robbed Athletic of their last round robin match before the Queen's Birthday Weekend break, leaving them idle for a fortnight, while City are pulling themselves up off the deck after Monday's deflating extra time loss to Eskview United AFC in the Lotto Federation Cup matchup in Napier.

After a contentious week dealing with Central Football regarding the officiating of the Cup match and his reaction to it, City coach Kelvin Francis opted not to have an indoor training run on Thursday after the cloudburst saw both Cooks Gardens and Wembley Park closed.

"For some guys, it's not good for their ankles and knees.

"No one was wanting to train on Tuesday. We've got half a dozen question marks for [today]."

The team brought back plenty of niggles from Napier and some of them could be ruled out after the 1.30pm warmups.

"Those that take the field will step up and go as hard as they can," Francis said.

However, Tom Dixon is definitally gone for at least four weeks after ligiment damage to the knee, while Thomas Sinton will be in Christchurch and was unlikely to play on his sore ankle anyway.

The big loss is likely be Kyle Graham-Luke, as Francis estimates Graham-Luke's own ankle will leave him perhaps a 15 per cent chance of playing.

"He's one of those kids who just wants to roll his sleaves up in a derby game."

Francis would like to confirm the committment of Chris Annabell and Eli Fleming, however they must give full attention to their earlier match for the City Hammers – a cruical local league game against Marist Celtic.

Mentally and physically, it will be a long way back for City if they hope to reverse the 5-2 loss to Athletic on opening day in April.

"Derby is a different beast, so give a young fella a chance...players will grow from these situations," Francis said.

Athletic coach Jason King did opt for an indoor session on Thursday, getting his squad to play a bunch of team activities with free tickets to Calcutta Night as the incentive.

"Training was good, the boys were still turning up and putting the yards in," he said regarding the last fortnight with no football.

"It's a derby match, everyone's up for it.

"[City will] bring their own passion and that sort of stuff. They won't be feeling low."

Nonethless, Athletic have their own significant holes to plug as the mid-year drag has hit hard.

Linchpin Ryan Holden has gone back to the United Kingdom for his sister's wedding, while for today Kelvin Hove has work commitments and Jordan Gilmore is also unavailable.

Nonetheless, Steve Burney can play a home Wembley fixture, while the team will welcome back Josh Parker after a very long stint on the injured list.

"We've got players on the bench and from the reserve side to fill in," said King.

Now seven points back from Palmerston North Marist and five points behind North End AFC with a delayed first round match still be played between them, King sat down with the second round draw to figure out how results may go in the next seven weekends, hoping to see if Athletic still has a viable pathway to the title.

"We're still there – Marist have got a good lead but they've played an extra game."

Kickoff is 2.45pm.

The GJ Gardner Homes Wanganui Athletic Reserves are away to the Hokowhitu FC Reserves at Skoglund Park today in the Horizions Premiership, kickoff 12.30pm.