Coach Ricki Herbert is taking an unorthodox approach in keeping his side to face the Mariners today under wraps.

An extended squad has been named for the round four Hyundai A-League encounter at Wellington's Westpac Stadium and Herbert will not trim it down to a match-day 15 until after training on Saturday.

Herbert said: "We've laid it out that everyone is in the frame for this weekend.

"We'll keep that level of intensity and hunger right there until we finish training."

Only striker Adam Kwasnik is unavailable and he misses the chance to take on his former Mariners team-mates due to a knee strain suffered in mid-week training.

Kwasnik's absence is tempered by the return of hot goal-scorer Shane Smeltz and the rest of the Phoenix's All Whites after they furthered their 2010 World Cup hopes with home and away victories over New Caledonia.

By scoring two goals in a 3-0 win on Wednesday night, Smeltz equalled a 30-year-old All Whites record for scoring in six consecutive international fixtures.

He's back in a Phoenix shirt this weekend after missing his side's loss to Adelaide United with the flu and skipper Andrew Durante couldn't be happier with the return of Smeltz and his fellow All Whites.

Durante said: "The All Whites boys have come back from camp on a real high and the guys that stayed in Wellington have gone about their business well at training.

"We've had some fun sessions but we've put the hard work in as well. It's been a good week. There's been some good banter, there's good spirits and everyone is putting the effort in."

Despite a disappointing start, with only one point from three matches, the bottom-placed Phoenix are keeping their chins up.

"While we haven't won a game in three [starts], it was a really, really poor 90 minutes against Adelaide in round three," Durante continued.

"It certainly wasn't that against Melbourne and Queensland but everything has got wrapped up into that 90 minutes away at Adelaide. We can't hide from that. It lacked everything that this club is about and it's not acceptable.

"It's about getting back to basics and playing the way we were in pre-season. It's about keeping the ball and working as a unit. Against Adelaide there were too many individuals not doing enough.

"It's got to be a group effort this weekend and if everyone pulls their weight then we'll go a long way toward getting a win. It's definitely not do-or-die but hopefully this will prove to be the turning point for our season."