First strike: Shannon Cole says his team aims to set the pace against the ... - Sydney Morning Herald

First strike: Shannon Cole says his team aims to set the pace against the Phoenix. Photo: Brendan Esposito

Western Sydney Wanderers have no intention of waiting to see what kind of mood the Phoenix are in when they take on the dangerous New Zealand side in Wellington in a round-eight clash on Sunday.

After being blitzed by the Roar last round, conceding twice inside 20 minutes before losing 3-1 in Brisbane, Wanderers midfielder Shannon Cole said the team had paid special attention throughout the week to ensuring it would not make the same mistake.

''If you look at last week's game, there were a few things early in the game, the first 15 or 20 minutes, we could have done better,'' Cole said.

''The coaches showed us where we could do better. I feel like for the last part of the game we dominated away from home. But Brisbane are a good team and did enough to get the points on the day.

''With Wellington, they're good at home. They like playing there. In the past for some teams, it's proved difficult to go there. So we can't leave it up to them to see if they're going to show up or not. It's up to us.''

The task will be much harder with Shinji Ono joining an injury list featuring Youssouf Hersi and Tomi Juric, leaving the Wanderers without much strike power, although the in-form Aaron Mooy is likely to take over in attack. Yet the premiers have not gotten to second place on the table so far by blasting goals.

''Last year there was a lot of uncertainty but we had a lot of belief,'' Cole said. ''This year we've come away with points in close, tough games, which is very positive.''

The Phoenix have been on the raw end of some tough results, none more so than last round's 2-1 loss to Sydney FC, which was sealed with a 94th-minute Sky Blues winner.

After the game, Sydney FC coach Frank Farina said he'd warned his players the Phoenix match-up was ''a banana skin game'', meaning it would be easy to slip up.

Cole agreed that the 'Nix, featuring Kenny Cunningham, Carlos Hernandez and Louis Fenton, could be formidable, and suggested they were better than their standing of second-last on the ladder.

''I think you've got to be careful not to disrespect them. I don't think they're a team that's going to fluke games this season - they'll beat sides,'' he said. ''So you've got to go in there and understand exactly where the danger is and be prepared for a very hard game.''

One thing the Wanderers won't be lacking is fitness to go the distance. ''I definitely feel fit. It's part of the culture in our club, to work hard and look after our bodies,'' Cole said. ''People make comments all the time about how slim we're looking in the face. It's all well monitored, and apart from a couple of injuries, the boys are in great shape.''

For the Phoenix, striker Jeremy Brockie is out of the game with a hamstring injury.