Good news on Ahmad Elrich

Ahmad Elrich

Wellington Phoenix marquee player Ahmad Elrich was sporting a wide smile at training on Thursday � and with good reason.

Fresh after his 25m thunderbolt against the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday to open his goal-scoring account for his new club, the 26-year-old was still running freely at training following a solid 85-minute match effort at Westpac Stadium.

Elrich suffered a serious knee injury while on Socceroos duty against Kuwait last year that severely hampered his intention to make inroads with Fulham in the English Premier League.

Now at Wellington, Elrich is enjoying being able to run freely again and play competitively in the Hyundai A-League.

"Scoring a goal on your home debut means a lot to every player, especially me being out for a year," Elrich said on Thursday.

"Now I'm pretty confident and will hopefully hit a few more like that.

"I'm playing, there's no problem with the knee � I can't feel anything. That's the most important thing for me, just to get back playing � and I'm happy that I'm playing with Wellington.

"With every session, every game, I think I'm improving. In another game or two I'll be back to full fitness."

Elrich said the team had bounced back from its heart-breaking loss to the Mariners on Sunday � its third successive 2-1 defeat.

Faced with a daunting three-match away schedule that takes in Adelaide, Perth and Queensland, Elrich felt the onus was on the players to display their professionalism and battle for competition points.

"(The mood's) been positive - Ricki (coach Ricki Herbert) has been good in making sure players don't get down," Elrich said.

"It's just important that we move on now � these things happen and it's the way you bounce back that shows the true character of every individual in the team."

While a win is the obvious aim for the Phoenix against Adelaide on Sunday, the form shown by last season's losing grand finalist meant Elrich suggested it would be a difficult fixture.

"They're doing well and getting the results, so obviously it's going to be tough going there but we've got the players to get a result.

"I think we've just got to be patient, not panic, and any team's beatable in the A-League. We've just got to find the right keys and go in there and unlock their defence.

"If you can get three points at Adelaide then the mood and confidence going into Perth is obviously going to lift."