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Wellington striker Shane Smeltz says Friday’s clash against the Central Coast Mariners is a must-win game for the New Zealanders as the Phoenix look to break into the A-League’s top four.
Smeltz, the league’s top scorer this season with nine goals, says the NZ club’s rise from perennial whipping boys to finals contenders has caught the imagination of a rugby-mad public in the Kiwi capital.
“The support we have got here has been tremendous, better than I ever thought it would be,” he told AAP.
“We know teams don’t relish coming over here and we must use that to our advantage.
“We have beaten both Sydney and Melbourne at home this season and fear nobody we play here.
“We have beaten some good sides, including the Mariners at their place, so we see this as a game we have a good chance of winning.”
The Phoenix’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Perth Glory at Westpac Stadium last Saturday was preceded by a 6-1 humbling by Adelaide United and Smeltz knows Friday’s game could make or break Wellington’s season and victory could see them leapfrog the fourth-place Mariners.
“It is vital we pick up a win as we head to Brisbane to face Queensland next week which is always a tough game,” he said.
“The Perth game was a case of two points dropped as our performance deserved more and the Adelaide game was just one of those days where everything they hit seemed to go in.
“But this club, even from the days of the New Zealand Knights, has never finished off the bottom since the A-League started so to be in with a chance of making the four at this stage of the season is an achievement in itself.”
After a three-year stint playing in the English lower leagues, a move Smeltz admits didn’t work out as well as he would have liked, he has enjoyed a prolific spell since returning back to New Zealand in 2007.
Scoring 18 goals in just 31 games over the last two seasons has earned the 27-year-old All White a three-year deal with the new Gold Coast United team that will play in the A-League next year.
Central Coast striker Matt Simon says the Mariners’ victory over Sydney will count for nothing if they lose to Wellington for the second time this season and has he has pinpointed Smeltz as the man to stop.
“He is a class player and the main source of their goals,” said Simon, who has found the net eight times himself this season.
“If you give him a chance he can hurt you but if our defence play as well as they did against Sydney then I am confident we can head back home with the points in the bag.”
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