In another show of professionalism, the league’s newest team arrived in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and left immediately for Gosford. Ricki Herbert has left nothing to chance in his bid to capitalise on Wellington’s thrilling draw against Melbourne Victory in round one.

“We’re going to try a couple of things and we’re here a day early and we’ll see if that can help us at all,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

Herbert also hinted that Wellington will focus on attacking the Mariners, suggesting his starting XI will not be the same as the one that took the field against Melbourne. Brazilian Felipe is likely to be used as an impact player from the bench again however, despite leaving a huge impression after his late introduction against Melbourne.

“Personnel might be the only thing we’ll consider. Without exposing ourselves, I think we’ve got a pretty decent attacking side,” said Herbert.

“Not that we can’t defend but we do have players who like to get forward and we’ll look to utilise that. Our approach will be very similar.”

Herbert rates the Mariners’ as one of the toughest away trips and says his men will be wary of in-form Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski, saying, “They’ve always come across as a unified side, strong, collected. And I think their signings have been great this year.

“Sasho Petrovski upfront is renowned for his goalscoring and he did that once again against Sydney. They’re very competitive and Lawrie has them up for it. He had them very fit in the pre-season. This will certainly be one of the toughest away games for us in the competition.”

Herbert has described the mood amongst his players as “buoyant” as the club continues to ride a wave of glowing support from the Wellington public.

“We’re pretty pleased. I think we showed in the second half what we’re capable of doing. It got things cracking and potentially we should have won the game. But it’s round two now and things are going to be different,” he said.

“For us, the last four months have all been around that opening game against Melbourne. There was a lot of pressure surrounding it. I think we’re all pretty pleased that it’s now come and gone and there’s a whole lot of support back home now. The fans saw an event that they liked and it wouldn’t surprise me if the crowds swell for the next home game against Newcastle.

“We’ve assembled this team out of nothing and to see them come back against the reigning champions and dominate in the end was good to see. I think people around the league will now see us as a credible organisation with some potential on the field as well.”