R26 vs Melbourne C | Sun 21st April | 7.00pm

Due to dry out by 4 ?

well stop raining at least...a family dinner means I will need to record it.

Looking forward to seeing Mark and the boys off tonight. Just want them to play out of their skins. They owe it to themselves, as well as us..

Should be a classic. Looking forward to it. Weather made for some goalkeeping howlers by the away team.

is it cold and wet or just wet ? trying to bring the least stuff possible so i do not have to carry a bag to the game. it is overcast and warm in wanganui at the moment.

Just wet

Definitely looking forward to seeing the last of Rudan.

He got us to this position so I wish him well.

Sitting in the stands next to Nathan.

Monster win looming. 

Yesterday the Wellington City forecast was for strong northerlies and then southerlies in the evening. The strong northerlies didn't seem too strong to me. The latest MetService forecast has light northerlies, 13C and rain stopping by 4PM. Not bad conditions if the pitch drains. 

see you guys all there, just hitting the road now. i am bringing 1 extra this week to his first ever phoenix game

After a huge weekend my 4 yo is having the nap of his life so I'll definitely take him along. He's been to the stadium before but never when the flash lights on. My first game was under the lights, unforgettable experience!

1-1 draw.

Recently got glasses, so this will be my first game at the stadium being able to see what's going on properly! Excited!!

PS: If any A-League officials are wondering, I can confirm Specsavers do a good job.

I hope it's not pouring down come kick off. Absolutely bucketing down here in New Plymouth so hopefully it won't make it into Wellington until later on in the evening. Would probably hinder our chances of getting a decent walk up crowd. 

This has changed from a super important must win game (home finals) to a game, where a win will see us gain confidence, after two bad weeks. 

Looking forward to the game, but I feel like we've peaked. 

I was on Radio Sport to Miles Davis yesterday. We discussed my team Charlton and also Nix. He's not a fan of Rudan, anymore, after this disaster (leaving). 

He understood the reasons (family), but also agreed that this should have been sorted out, before he signed. 

We're one bloody season away from folding. Such bad timing. 

Yes, he's got us in a good position, but this is beyond frustrating. 

I expect no more than a draw tonight and then we get our arses spanked in Adelaide or Melbourne. Season over. Depressing. 

With Adelaide winning and pretty much shoring up 4th spot. This is not so important a game in the context of the league now, so hopefully the pressure is off the team a little bit, and I hope they can also put the mental side of Rudan's departure behind them.

But I feel it is a huge game in the context of getting some momentum going before the playoff's. A convincing win against Mel City will go a long way in getting confidence back in the team. 

COYN. You can do it.

If it affects the future of the club...!　think we would have been worse off without him though. He's shown it's possible.

Guys why so pessimistic? We win today and we win against Perth. Adelaide folds under the pressure and we have a home final.

Fire up!

Just gutted we all but threw away our chance of a home playoff with two below average performances. Anyway, just went for a walk. No rain, not even that cold. Gonna be a great night

Kopa on RWB is an interesting choice

I hope we don't boo Rudan as he comes out btw. Done immensely well for this club

LINE-UP | Here is your #Nix Starting XI and substitutes for tonight's @ALeague Round 26 fixture against Melbourne City at @WestpacStadium.

? Who are you looking forward to seeing out there tonight?#StandUpWithYourNix #CreateHistory #WELvMCY pic.twitter.com/QemZOA5Xzv

— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) April 21, 2019

Interesting line up. But something had to change after our efforts against Adelaide and Brisbane. 

Very attack minded by the looks, interested to see what Burgess has to offer down the left hand side. Personally would have given Sheridan a start and knock Williams back to the bench after our past couple of results. 

Will be interesting to see how our backline operates too. Don't know if we'll see Cacace ranging forward as much as we've seen so far this season.

Not long to go now until we see how it plays out. COYN! Fire up!

Feels a little strange leaving for a game in the dark. 

Hope the numbers show up but I somehow doubt it. 

Whoever the drummer is, please have it together tonight. Last game I took to banging on seats to get things going. 

Feels a bit bitter sweet to end the season like this with the Rudan situation being what it is. 

Got nothing but respect for that man btw. 

Hope the team puts on a performance for us that highlights the best of what they have been this season. 

And for the love of god please keep a clean sheet. 

Wellingtonians just appreciate that you guys have a football club, that you can come and do this every weekend. I moved here from down south and usually say if I was in Europe this would be me every weekend, you might not even have this club in two years, appreciate it while it’s here.

COYN

Interesting to see how little running or tackling he does.

Looks like a right back?

Interesting to have the youth on the LHS and experience on the right.

Named Williams as RWB in pre-match show - with kopa as lcb

TVNZ 6pm News talks up the game in the sports bulletin with a live cross to the RoF; ground conditions seem fine for a good game.

Burgess or Rufer is RWB? Or we're changing formation...

Burgess likely to be on the left

Cacace?

I mean up front.  In fact Williams seems to be playing as a kind of makeshift right fullback?

Brisk start by both teams - The Nix with the first corner and now the second corner.

William clearly sitting much deeper on the right tonight.

Harry Ngata from the sidelines talks about the slightly slick surface after the rain earlier on - the ball does seem to move quite fast.

Always amazed by how much ball Roy wins in the air. Got a great leap on him.

Two good consecutive saves by Kurto. But MC should not be allowed this much space in our goalmouth.

Kurto with a couple more saves to add to the collection. Melbourne been slightly better so far without causing us too many problems.

Tribe updates keep talking about Golec - did he wind up starting?

A balletic performance from Burgess and Krishna, for Roy to score. A blood Swan Lake worthy.