Wellington Phoenix will be taking nothing for granted when they attempt to break their AAMI Park hoodoo against an injury-ravaged Melbourne City.
The Phoenix will face the top-six A-League Men team on Friday at a venue they have not won at since 2017.
So poor is the Phoenix's form at AAMI Park that the last and only time they defeated City at that venue their opponents were named Melbourne Heart.
Phoenix had claimed a 1-0 win over the Heart in 2013, before defeating Melbourne Victory 3-0 in 2017.
They have an overall record of three wins, 13 draws and 21 losses at AAMI Park.
Wellington coach Giancarlo Italiano is well aware of the fact but is choosing to lean into their hoodoo, knowing they need the three points to keep up with the pack.
His men are riding a wave of momentum after snapping their three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Newcastle, sitting ninth on 13 points.
"The fact that we haven't won there for a long time - the only thing that does, it maybe swings the odds in our favour at some stage," Italiano said.
"We're going to break that hoodoo but yeah, again, that (hasn't been) spoken about.
"It's just a normal standard week."
Fifth-placed City (15 points) enter Friday night having drawn 1-1 with Central Coast on New Year's eve, meaning they have only had two days of rest off the field.
Their injury list has also grown, with Yonatan Cohen limping off the field against the Mariners with a suspected MCL knee issue in the 40th minute in what was another blow to City's attacking stocks.
Cohen joins Mathew Leckie (hamstring), Marco Tilio (hamstring), Andrew Nabbout (ACL), Max Caputo (leg), Alessandro Lopane (knee), Andreas Kuen (foot) and Jimmy Jeggo (Achilles) on the sidelines.
Still, Italiano says it would be a mistake to expect an easy win over Aurelio Vidmar's side.
The 'Nix have their own injury concerns with forward Marco Rojas (ankle) still out for at least three or four weeks and defender Tim Payne (foot) in doubt.
They will also be without their captain Alex Rufer through illness.
"I wouldn't say there's an easy time to play them. They're still a dangerous team," Italiano said.
"They have some very good imports and even though they played (on Tuesday night), they're still going to be very hard to beat at home.
"Aurelio's done a really good job, especially with the amount of injuries that he's had. He's been able to bring some younger players through.
"They have the nucleus of last year's team. They're the sort of team that if you give them enough opportunities, they will punish you."
Also on Friday night, the winless Brisbane Roar host Central Coast and Perth Glory play Western United.
Glory, sitting second-from-the-bottom, are now without David Williams after the striker ruptured his ACL in their 3-0 loss to Macarthur FC in round 10.
On Saturday, Newcastle take on Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory are up against Western Sydney before top-two team Macarthur host Adelaide United on Monday.
League leaders Auckland FC have a bye.
