Tommy Oar is bracing for the unexpected when Wellington come to Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night, with contrasting experiences in the previous two encounters against the New Zealanders.
An uncharacteristic red card soured a 1-1 draw with the Phoenix in round 3, after the 17-year-old experienced emotions at the other end of the scale in a thrilling 3-2 draw towards the end of last season.
Few Roar fans would forget a scintillating free kick from the youngster which gave his team a dramatic late win heading into last season's finals series.
However, Oar said he would have to forget about the past and concentrate on the task at hand if he was to help Brisbane take any part in this season's finals.
"The highlight and the lowlight of my career have both been against Wellington," he said.
"But I'm not really going to worry about what happened last time, it was just a heat-of-the-moment thing and I'll make sure not to do the same thing again.
"I think I was a bit overenthusiastic when I came off the bench and it might've come off the wrong way. I've just got to be a bit more composed if I play this week - I've definitely learned from it."
Oar said he was hoping for a start on Sunday after coming off the bench at half time against Melbourne Victory.
Having returned from Young Socceroos duty in Indonesia two days prior to the match, he said he felt more prepared heading into this weekend.
"I played five games in 11 or 12 days overseas so that was a pretty high workload," he said.
"I was feeling fine before the game but mentally, having just returned, it could have been a bit of a burden, but I'm definitely settled now and will hopefully be firing for the weekend."
However, the marauding left winger said he had noticed plenty of company in his push for a starting spot.
"Everyone's lifted their game a bit, we're training more intensely now than before I went away," he said.
"I think everyone realises it's a really important few weeks for us and we really have to get a few wins. Everyone realises that and is training hard to get into the squad to be a part of that.
"There's also a lot more competition for places now that everyone's back and that's pushing everyone to work hard at training."
Brisbane Roar's match against Wellington Phoenix kicks off at 6pm, Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.
