After a tough week in Melbourne, where they took one point from a possible six in games against Victory and Heart, being back at Westpac Stadium will give Ricki Herbert's side a much-needed boost following a tough run of three games in eight days.

North, who made his Phoenix debut in the goalless draw against Victory, is looking forward to the prospect of playing in front of the home fans for the first time.

"I actually enjoyed playing against the Phoenix when I was playing with the Jets," he said.

"It's a great stadium, great pitch and from watching them play Sydney the other night it's a great atmosphere too."

Despite the limited amount of time he has had with his new team-mates since arriving from Norway earlier this month, the Socceroos defender feels he has made a relatively smooth transition into the central defenders role alongside former Jets team-mate Andrew Durante.

"Defensively we're quite solid. One person coming in at the back is not going to change too many things around," North said.

"We got a nil-all result in my first game and as a defender that's your job. But we let ourselves down with easy goals against Heart. We'll learn from that.

"I've just got to keep working with the boys and getting to know them properly and that's going to take another little while."

The Phoenix will also have to overcome the absence of left-back Tony Lochhead who has been ruled out for anywhere between eight to 16 weeks with a groin injury that may require surgery.

"He's an international, an experienced player and a left-sided player and left-sided full-backs are hard to come by," admitted North.

"But whoever comes in they are going to work hard and certainly fill his shoes though."

Manny Muscat, who has played as a defensive midfielder in the past three matches, is the likely candidate to slot in at left-back with Vinnie Lia expected to return to the midfield after recovering from a hamstring problem.

There are also doubts about whether star striker Paul Ifill (groin) will be fit for Friday's game after the recent heavy workload which Herbert described as a "good reality check" for his players.

North conceded the players had struggled with fatigue in the 2-1 loss to Heart.

"There were some tired legs out there but we can't use that as an excuse because we've got a couple more games coming up during the season where we've got to travel away midweek as well," he said.

"We'll learn from our mistakes. We've got new personnel in the team now so we've just got to gel slowly but I think we'll get there."

The Fury arrive in New Zealand's capital for what will be the first of three games in eight days for the North Queenslanders.

They had an encouraging goalless draw with Victory at the weekend and created enough chances to win the game and North remained wary.

"They are going to be a tough team and we can't under-estimate them. They kept Victory out so they are no easy beats by any means," he said.

"Anyone that's going to put a Fury shirt on is going to be a threat to us. They are going to go out there and tackle and fight to get a result and we've got to be on top of our game."