Phoenix close to final squad

Wellington Phoenix have identified the final piece of the puzzle now they just have to lock it in.

The Phoenix left China last night confident they had found their 20th and final squad member in Chinese under-23 striker Jiang (or John, as they have dubbed him) Chen.

The Tianjin Teda forward played the first half of the 3-2 pre-season football loss to Chinese Super League team Guangzhou on Tuesday night and coach Ricki Herbert liked what he saw of the 23-year-old.

"I think there will be ongoing discussions with the Chinese boy," Herbert said yesterday before they left for Dubbo, Australia, where they will play the Central Coast Mariners in the final pre-season match on Saturday.

"I think there is something there in the limited time we've had him, which is one training and 45 minutes. Nothing has happened yet but I'd like to continue with him." Chen is contracted to Tianjin, with whom the Phoenix drew 2-2 last Saturday, but chief executive Tony Pignata said he would be speaking to the club before they left China, hoping to get him on loan for the A-League season.

"We need to sort out contractual issues with the period of loan, but we're quite keen to move things forward," he said.

"Hopefully we can get him out as soon as possible and go from there."

A decision on Brazilian triallist Anderson Potty, who played the second 45 minutes against Guangzhou, will be made in the coming days but, given Tuesday's addition of Barbados international Paul Ifill, the Phoenix are looking for only one more player, so it's unlikely he will be signed.

They have made a late signing charge with the season less than three weeks away but Pignata said he was always confident of finding a strike-force in the wake of Shane Smeltz's departure.

"If you juggle four or five names at a time then someone is going to come up."

Said Herbert: "Now we're going to have Chris [Greenacre], Paul Ifill, maybe [Chen], and Costa [Barbarouses], who has done really well in pre-season and on this tour he's looked a more mature player so that could be four players who, on any day, could make an impact."

Herbert was encouraged by the number of chances created in Tuesday's match before they succumbed to a last-minute free-kick by the home side, in front of 25,000 fans.

Greenacre scored his first goal for the Phoenix with a tidy finish inside the box, while Andrew Durante also found the net.

Herbert made a plethora of changes but they were still "knackered" by the end of the match, played in 38 degrees Celsius temperatures, so he would not be starting his top lineup in Dubbo.

"I don't think we'll show all the cards," he said. "We might just freshen a few players up. I'm very happy with where we're at. We've got no injuries, so we might give a couple of younger boys a run."

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