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Paulo Retre will make his Wellington Phoenix debut and Marco Rojas will return in the first "Kiwi clasico" against Auckland FC on Saturday.
Without their captain and New Zealand international Alex Rufer, Wellington Phoenix say Auckland FC are "strong favourites" for their inaugural A-League Men match on Saturday.
A richly anticipated first all-Aotearoa clash takes place at Sky Stadium on Saturday, giving the Phoenix a local rival to battle with after 17 seasons as the only Kiwi club.
On early season form, Auckland FC look more than just a rival - they look title contenders.
Steve Corica's side are the only club with two wins from two and head to the capital in fine fettle.
"We feel great," Corica said.
"The boys have got a lot of confidence out of the first two games ... they want that bragging rights and we want to continue our run."
As expected, the build-up to a first New Zealand derby - though the cities are 600km apart - has been full of bluster.
A Wellington-aligned pilot flew over Auckland FC's home ground last week with a banner saying "NZ is Yellow", with Nix off-field leaders talking up their side as the "people's club" and building animosity towards the Black Knights by referencing their big-money backing.
The new club has been bankrolled by American finance services billionaire Bill Foley, recruiting five-time league winner Corica as coach and a bunch of international players.
For that reason, Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano scoffed at suggestions from the City of Sails that Wellington would be favourites, insisting his side will play the role of the underdog on Saturday.
"I find that very hard to believe. I don't think they've left New Zealand yet. We've just come back from Perth," he said, which is a 10-hour minimum transit from Wellington.
"With the money he has available for players and so on, he's a strong favourite."
Wellington have also lost captain and midfield leader Rufer from that visit to Western Australia, where they earned a 2-0 win.
"He copped a knock against Perth at the end of the game and the swelling and stiffness hasn't gone down," Italiano explained.
He was hugely disappointed. It's such a huge event for us ... we'd love for him to be part of it."
Rufer's absence - which means Scott Wootton will captain - will in some ways be offset by the return to fitness of Paulo Retre and Marco Rojas.
Italiano hinted Retre would get the job as midfield marshall while Rojas, who fractured his leg in pre-season, was a likely impact sub.
"Rufs is a very big part of our team, he's our captain. Where we will be missing is more of his leadership ... we really need some of the other senior players to step up and lead on the pitch tomorrow," he said.
Around 500 Auckland FC fans are tipped to make the trip south with a bumper crowd of 20,000 likely.
"We need to fill the stadium. We need to show what Wellington football is about," Italiano said.
"We also need to represent the history. We need to give the fans something to be proud of ... this is about New Zealand and about who owns football at the moment in this country."
Both fan groups and clubs have condemned a report of threats of violence being made online by Auckland FC fans, which police are aware of, prompting security to be beefed-up.
"It's purely keyboard warriors and trolls, and a slur against football fans," Auckland chief executive Nick Becker said.