Former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor insists morale at Wellington Phoenix hasn't taken a hit after their 3-0 home loss to Western Sydney.
The round three loss was the Phoenix's first of the campaign, and came against a Wanderers side who previously been winless.
Mark Rudan's side come up against Melbourne City on Friday, with both teams having identical records to this point.
Taylor, who joined Wellington in pre-season, feels the club may have been guilty of showing too much respect to opposition in the past and doesn't want that to be the case now.
And he's reported that the players remain upbeat despite the Westpac Stadium defeat to Wanderers.
"With this group of players that we've got here, we've got big characters and players who have relished this opportunity," said the 32-year-old former England B international.
"In the first game of the season against the Newcastle Jets we didn't get too high, we were back concentrating on the following game against Brisbane [Roar], and that's what we do after every game; we move on to the next one."
This weekend they face a team who are also coming off the back of a 3-0 home loss, with City having gone down to defending premiers Sydney FC.
Taylor said: "The boys are in a positive frame of mind and you could tell by the training this morning that everyone is looking forward to the Melbourne game because it's a massive game for us and they'll be under a lot of pressure and they'll have to try and take the game to us."
The Phoenix are 9/2 to win their next game against Melbourne City, who are 4/7 with the draw 10/3.
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Former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor insists morale at Wellington Phoenix hasn't taken a hit after their 3-0 home loss to Western Sydney.
The round three loss was the Phoenix's first of the campaign, and came against a Wanderers side who previously been winless.
Mark Rudan's side come up against Melbourne City on Friday, with both teams having identical records to this point.
Taylor, who joined Wellington in pre-season, feels the club may have been guilty of showing too much respect to opposition in the past and doesn't want that to be the case now.
And he's reported that the players remain upbeat despite the Westpac Stadium defeat to Wanderers.
"With this group of players that we've got here, we've got big characters and players who have relished this opportunity," said the 32-year-old former England B international.
"In the first game of the season against the Newcastle Jets we didn't get too high, we were back concentrating on the following game against Brisbane [Roar], and that's what we do after every game; we move on to the next one."
This weekend they face a team who are also coming off the back of a 3-0 home loss, with City having gone down to defending premiers Sydney FC.
Taylor said: "The boys are in a positive frame of mind and you could tell by the training this morning that everyone is looking forward to the Melbourne game because it's a massive game for us and they'll be under a lot of pressure and they'll have to try and take the game to us."
The Phoenix are 9/2 to win their next game against Melbourne City, who are 4/7 with the draw 10/3.
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Source: bet365.com