Wellington Phoenix’s Macallister to break duck

Wellington Phoenix striker Chris Greenacre believes teammate Dylan Macallister is set to break his goalscoring duck with his new club.

Macallister, who kicked off his A-League career in early 2008 with the Central Coast Mariners, joined the Phoenix in the off-season and has begun impressively at Westpac Stadium.

The fact he has yet to score a goal in either of the opening two matches means nothing to striker partner Greenacre who has praised Macallister for his strength work and creativity in the final third.

"For me, he's opened up one or two little gaps, he set me up for a goal against Gold Coast…he gets labelled as a target man but he's far more than that," Greenacre said.

"He's got a good touch, holds up the ball well and works hard around the pitch. He must be hard to defend against, he causes problems with his sheer size.

"It won't be too long before he gets his first goal for the Phoenix."

Greenacre added that Macallister’s presence was also a big bonus for Phoenix star man Paul Ifill who is sure to be marked closely at times this season.

“Having Dylan there, if Paul does find himself in trouble he can put the ball in the box knowing there's always going to be that extra striker there with Dylan,” he added.

"Any kind of aerial ball you know Dylan will attack it."

And ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium, Greenacre is well aware the Phoenix need to get positive results away from home to back up their brilliant record at Westpac.

“We need to improve our away record and an early win will boost confidence even more," he concluded.