Wellington coach Mark Rudan says the Phoenix have been transformed quickly from a team battling against the wooden spoon to one who felt disappointed not to win away to defending champions Melbourne Victory.
When the New Zealand side endured a five-game winless streak earlier in the season, during which they scored only two goals, it was the cue for many pundits to write them off.
But they went to AAMI Park on Friday confident of being able to take down last season's Grand Final winners in front of their own fans.
In the end they needed to be picked up in the dressing room as they felt down having conceded an equaliser to Ola Toivonen in the 1-1 draw.
Last weekend they had thrashed Brisbane 4-1 to rack up a three-game winning streak for the first time in four years and Rudan says the team are now aiming high after a run of good form that's yielded 10 points from four matches.
The coach recalled watching a game last season in which Wellington had given up a 1-0 lead inside the final 10 minutes to lose 2-1 to Victory.
He said: "That's another big difference in terms of mentality and how much we've grown as well. But they are down, I had to lift them up and that's a great sign as far I'm concerned.
"They're pretty down because we went into this game with a real firm belief. We know that Victory is a good side, playing at home with great momentum, but we have big belief there that we can snatch all three points and win that game and I think with that performance today I think you would have seen that."
The Phoenix led through David Williams' goal before Toivonen got on the scoresheet for a fourth consecutive match.
Wellington are 20/1 to win the A-League Grand Final, while the Phoenix are 4/5 to finish in the top six.
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Wellington coach Mark Rudan says the Phoenix have been transformed quickly from a team battling against the wooden spoon to one who felt disappointed not to win away to defending champions Melbourne Victory.
When the New Zealand side endured a five-game winless streak earlier in the season, during which they scored only two goals, it was the cue for many pundits to write them off.
But they went to AAMI Park on Friday confident of being able to take down last season's Grand Final winners in front of their own fans.
In the end they needed to be picked up in the dressing room as they felt down having conceded an equaliser to Ola Toivonen in the 1-1 draw.
Last weekend they had thrashed Brisbane 4-1 to rack up a three-game winning streak for the first time in four years and Rudan says the team are now aiming high after a run of good form that's yielded 10 points from four matches.
The coach recalled watching a game last season in which Wellington had given up a 1-0 lead inside the final 10 minutes to lose 2-1 to Victory.
He said: "That's another big difference in terms of mentality and how much we've grown as well. But they are down, I had to lift them up and that's a great sign as far I'm concerned.
"They're pretty down because we went into this game with a real firm belief. We know that Victory is a good side, playing at home with great momentum, but we have big belief there that we can snatch all three points and win that game and I think with that performance today I think you would have seen that."
The Phoenix led through David Williams' goal before Toivonen got on the scoresheet for a fourth consecutive match.
Wellington are 20/1 to win the A-League Grand Final, while the Phoenix are 4/5 to finish in the top six.
View all Soccer betting
Source: bet365.com