Wellington Phoenix hope the return of playmakers David Ball and Yan Sasse can deliver the spark of creativity they need against a rampant Melbourne City.
Ball missed the Phoenix's opening three games through injury, while Sasse was sent off 25 minutes into his round-one debut and has sat out their past two outings through suspension.
The Brazilian, in particular, will be keen to showcase his creativity in his second league appearance, at AAMI Park on Sunday.
"We brought in Yan because we think he's an influential player in the role that he plays," Wellington coach Ufuk Talay said.
"He's a creative player; that's something that possibly we've lacked in the past couple of games."
Sasse and Ball join the likes of Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine, Bozhidar Kraev and Oskar Zawada in competing for a starting spot as the Phoenix look for lift-off in their 2022/23 campaign.
Ball, who admitted he had expected to be sidelined until after the World Cup break, said Wellington's increased attacking depth added to the number of players capable of coming in and changing games.
"Over the past couple of years we probably haven't had that competition and at the moment, (Talay's) pretty much said whoever goes in, whoever he picks, it's then your shirt to lose," he said.
"We've got good competition (for places), which breeds good competition on the training ground and brings everyone up
"We've got to look at that as a strength."
Wellington are coming off a humbling 3-1 loss to Newcastle last time out and are yet to snare their first win of the new season.
They will need to be at their best to knock over ladder-leaders City.
"For me, Melbourne City are the best team in the competition," Talay said.
"They've got three wins, they're flying high, they've got some really good players and they play some really good football.
"I see it as a great opportunity to go and play the best team."
