Wellington Phoenix's Ben Sigmund and Manny Muscat set to miss upcoming A-League clash

Wellington Phoenix will miss both Ben Sigmund and Manny Muscat in their upcoming A-League match with Brisbane Roar FC.

Ben Sigmund has injured his hamstring in training while Muscat has been handed a two-match ban for using his forearm on Central Coast forward Roy O’Donovan in their matchup last week.

A-League’s match review panel has found Muscat guilty of “assault on a player” off the ball.

It’s a tough time for the Phoenix supporters as the club from Wellington are missing up to eight frontline players for their upcoming round-14 match against the Roar.

Wellington coach Ernie Merrick has to shuffle his pack of players to fill the void left by club strikers Alex Rufer, Jeffrey Sarpong and Roy Krishna because of injuries as well as defenders Sigmund and Louis Fenton.

Phoenix’s woes doesn’t end here as key midfielders Roy Bonevacia and Alex Rodriguez are also set to miss the match against Brisbane for having five yellow cards to their names.

"We've been bringing him along very slowly and very progressively but without overdoing it. But as soon as he went into a game, it pulled again. It looks like it's going to be a long-term injury - I feel for Ben.” Merrick said, according to The West Australian.

The 34-year old Sigmund is set to retire at the end of the season and the injury has set concerns amongst the club faithful’s regarding his last match for the club. However, Merrick is optimistic that Sigmund will feature again for the Phoenix this season.

"I think he'll play before the end of the season. We told him he's got to play two more games before he gets his bonus.” Merrick added.

Merrick is confident that he has the bench strength to cover for his missing players and has particularly mentioned youngster Dylan Fox as the potential starter in the back four.

Albert Riera, who was serving a one-match suspension will return to Wellington’s midfield but Merrick will want to field two holding midfielders along with a few attacking options in the likes of James McGarry and Joe Stevens.

"Up front, we've still got Mikey McGlinchey, Blake Powell, Kwabena Appiah, and Logan Rogerson's looking really good. You know what it's like - you give someone an opportunity and, all of a sudden, you find a very, very good player." Merrick stated.