Phoenix made their first ever finals series last year with fans flocking into Westpac Stadium.

The challenge now is to build on that success but with so many Phoenix stars having been part of the All Whites' World Cup campaign, is there a danger of the tank running empty in this new-look 30 match season?

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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"You just have to make sure you keep preparing right,and keep the confidence high," Bertos told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"There's so much science in the game today and we've got the right people at the club to monitor that side of things.

"Ricki (Herbert) is really good in that sense. If he spots fatigue in someone, he'll handle it."

Back from his World Cup adventure, Bertos is fully focused on domestic matters and making sure that last season wasn't a one-off.

"We did pretty well but the important thing is to make sure it's not a flash in the pan," he said. "We have to be consistent, we have to match, improve on what we've done.

"There's more pressure, more expectation but that's what you want."

He also feels stability could prove a useful weapon for Phoenix this year.

Bertos added: "We've still got core of squad from last year. The club hasn't had to start from scratch, we're settled.

"It's maybe a similar scenario to the way things are done at Melbourne Victory and look how well they've done."

But back to the World Cup for just a second. Bertos takes pride in New Zealand's unbeaten run in South Africa but he admits he would happily have swapped such a statistic for a longer journey.

"The record, unreal man," he said. "At the same time I'd have sacrificed that to go through to the next round.

"Hopefully we can get there in another four years."