“It's all about consistency. It's no use just scoring in a couple of games, you've got to do it regularly,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

Santalab's form over the last two games – featuring two brilliant strikes against Central Coast and Adelaide – has propelled him ahead of the virus-affected Englishman iMichael Bridges in the striking pecking order.

“Brendan Santalab and Adam Biddle are different types of players to Michael and they give us some natural width. And Bridgey's home in two to three weeks and I need to get some other guys up to speed," said Sydney FC coach John Kosmina.

“Santalab's in goalscoring form so I'm not just going to sit him out for the sake of one player. That's not disrespect to Bridgey who's done really well.”

Sydney leave for Wellington later today expecting a difficult opponent on Friday night. Sydney has not beaten Phoenix this season losing at home and drawing away after Tony Popovic was red carded.

The travelling squad will be without Michael Bridges, who's recovering from a virus, Mark Milligan (toe) and Mark Robertson (hamstring). Kosmina added that Juninho will start from the bench.