Wellington are playing dynamically enough to cope without suspended striker Roy Krishna for one A-League match, coach Mark Rudan believes.
The Golden Boot-leading Krishna was shown two late yellow cards in an emotional 3-1 win over Western Sydney on Sunday, meaning he'll automatically miss their next game against Newcastle in two weeks.
It will be first time they've started without their star player, whose opening goal against the Wanderers took him to 15 this season, one short of the record for a Phoenix campaign set by Jeremy Brockie in 2012-13.
Krishna's sending off - with both yellow cards given for a raised arm - was contentious. However, Rudan was in no mood to debate its merits at the post- match press conference, where emotion took over as he spoke of his shocked reaction to Friday's terror attacks in Christchurch.
The coach was more at ease in an interview with Sky TV, where he praised the strides made by his fourth-placed team's attack.
They have scored 11 goals in their last two games, including the 8-2 rout of Central Coast, and could've easily tallied more against the sub-par Wanderers.
"That third goal (a fluent passing move finished off by David Williams) is what football's about. We've been working extremely hard throughout the season and it's good to get your just rewards," Rudan said.
"Roy's the top goalscorer in the league... but we play a dynamic brand of football. We work a lot on shooting and it was three superb goals."
Cillian Sheridan is likely to replace Krishna, while Rudan will have difficulty restoring the suspended Sarpreet Singh against the Jets after rookie Australian Max Burgess surprised with his quality behind the front two.
Rudan was proud of his players' response to the tragedy in Christchurch.
Their motivation mirrored that of Kiwi NRL club equivalents the Warriors, who thrashed the Bulldogs 40-6 on Saturday.
Both teams hoped it gave New Zealanders a positive distraction.
"You never know how they're going to react with something like this but I think the performance matched the three points," Rudan said.
"We were in complete control the whole time, we ran them ragged."
AAP
