The New Zealand franchise was unhappy to be out in the cold when plans for a seven-team competition were unveiled earlier this week by FFA chief executive Ben Buckley and technical director Rob Baan.

Now Phoenix officials are in discussions with the FFA to examine their participation in the league and the Wellington club insist they are prepared to go the distance in order to gain inclusion.

Phoenix CEO Tony Pignata, speaking exclusively to au.fourfourtwo.com today, said: “We are pushing to be included in the competition and feel we should be included as part of it.”

While the new league structure is designed to help bring through young Australian talent it is part of the A-League brand, a brand of which the Phoenix is very much part.

Pignata said: “We haven’t had an opportunity to put our case forward on this issue and it’s something we feel very strongly about.

“If the other seven teams in the A-League have the opportunity to take advantage of the new youth structure but we don’t then that’s clearly not something we are happy with. We wouldn’t want to find ourselves falling behind the other clubs in that way.

“I think it is an issue of compromise. As a club we could look to base 10 or so of our youngsters actually in Australia and then supplement them with senior players as and when that became necessary.

“Yes, there are costs involved in that and we’re still working those out. Hopefully we can enjoy some positive discussions on this and move forward.”

As for senior matters at the Phoenix, Pignata said he was delighted that Vince Lia had today extended his contract with the club for another two years and hoped the next few weeks would bring further good news.

He said: “We’re already delighted to have secured Andrew Durante and Jon McKain and now Vince has extended his deal. Hopefully the next few weeks will see us add more players to the squad.”