Phoenix struggling to put team together

Wellington Phoenix are struggling to find 11 fit players for tomorrow's pre-season match against A-League champions Melbourne Victory in Queenstown.

Injury and illness are wreaking havoc in the camp and, as of yesterday morning, coach Ricki Herbert said he had "no idea what the team is going to be at all".

Among the players unavailable for their first real hitout are English striker Chris Greenacre (not ready), Tony Lochhead (ill), Andrew Durante (ill), Leo Bertos (toe), Michael Ferrante (Achilles), and Jon McKain (thigh), while question marks hang over Ben Sigmund and Daniel.

Trialling Dutch striker Eddy Putter, a free agent released by Dutch club FC Dordrecht, is also sidelined with an ankle injury.

It leaves the Phoenix struggling to field a starting XI but there is no danger of the match, which coincides with the Queenstown Winter Festival, being canned.

Meanwhile, Phoenix season memberships are slowly on the rise, approaching the 2000 mark about six weeks out from the start of the A-League season.

The Dominion Post and Wellington Phoenix are offering you the chance to win a family season membership, worth $545, by entering our Friday sports quiz during the next four weeks. All correct entries each week will go into the draw for the prize, starting with today's quiz on page 8 of the sports liftout. If you answer all 10 questions correctly every week, you will have four entries in the draw.

- © Fairfax NZ News