Interim coach Chris Greenacre will take charge of the Phoenix in Saturday’s home clash against Central Coast Mariners.

Wellington finds itself at the bottom of the table after losing to the then winless Adelaide United 2-0 away on Sunday which led to Merrick’s resignation.

Now Moss believes the season begins against the floundering Mariners.

“We haven’t had that fight and passion other teams know us for, (it) hasn’t been shown,” Moss said.

“For me it’s representing the club as best we can, we haven’t been doing that lately, so that’s one thing I’d like to bring back starting this weekend.

“Our first game of the season coming up, that’s the way we have to look at it and I think things might change a little bit.

“It gives guys opportunity who haven’t been in the squad to come in and perform and guys who have played to keep their spots and show they want to stay there.”

Moss was no stranger to the situation and drew from his experiences with former A-League club Gold Coast United which folded in his time.

The 33-year-old also said it was time for him to step up as a leader.

“I’ve been through unhappy parts of the game,” he said.

“People forget about it, so if I can help the younger guys - the first year professionals, they’ve probably come in thinking ‘what’s going on?’ It’s about us sticking together.

“It’s still a long way to go in the season which I guess is the upside for us, so we can really turn things around this week and get back in the finals.”

Phoenix veteran Vince Lia, who had experience working under Merrick at both Melbourne Victory and Wellington said professionalism needed to be brought back after the players let it drop.

He added it was up to the squad after stating Merrick raised the standards at the club from 2013.

“It’s been the toughest two days I can remember for a while,” Lia said.

“The little things have to be done properly, everyone has to be on time (to training) and we have to train to win.

“We train how we want to play and Saturday becomes another (training) session.

“It’s something you try and do regardless of what’s been going on, from the performances maybe we haven’t been doing that well.”