Indian tour "great preparation" - Greenacre

By: Brenton Vannisselroy | Football News | Wednesday August 29 2012 12:11

The pitches have been poor and the opposition not much better, but the Wellington Phoenix believe they've made the right call to prepare for the upcoming A-League season in India.

Assistant coach Chris Greenacre says the pitches have made it hard to play any football in the opening two games of their tour, while their opponents were of an okay standard.

But Greenacre says they've got some valuable game time together ahead of the season.

"Doesn't really matter what team you play you can always get those fitness levels up and that's what it's about for us at this moment in time. Without a doubt it's been great preparation and it's been great team building so ideal preparation for an A-League season."

Andrew Durante will return from a two game suspension to lead the Wellington Phoenix in the third game of their Indian tour.

The club captain was one of three Phoenix players suspended for incidents in a spiteful match against the Newcastle Jets nearly a fortnight ago.

Greenacre says with the A-League season fast approaching it is important to get Durante back on the field.

"He needs game time, we are trying to get everyone a certain game time under the belt. It would be good for the younger players to actually play in a team with a captain as well they'll see what it's like to play along side Durante which will help the young players."

Ben Sigmund will sit out one more match while Manny Muscat has two games to run on his suspension.

The Phoenix play their third match in Shillong tonight, with more than 25,000 fans expected to be in attendance.

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