Durante believes Riera the answer to Phoenix penalty woes

Wellington Phoenix captain Andrew Durante reckons Spanish team-mate Albert Riera is the man to end its misadventures from the penalty spot.

Andrew Durante thinks Albert Riera could be Wellington Phoenix’s penalty king (Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

The spot-kick yips have affected Phoenix in recent weeks, partly explaining why it is forced to play an elimination final against Melbourne City on Sunday rather than sit out the weekend as one of the A-League's top two teams.

Its 2-1 loss to Sydney FC last weekend left it fourth and staying in Wellington for a sudden-death showdown.

Durante lamented a scuffed penalty miss by midfielder Roly Bonevacia after 15 minutes against Sydney which he described as a turning point and something which can't happen again if the chance arises in play-off football.

"I'm telling you, that miss changes the game completely," he told NZ Newswire.

"It made Sydney open up to chase the game and as soon as they got their goal, they sat back and it was quite difficult for us to break down.

"You need to take those chances and I'm sure we will. It's a big occasion on Sunday and we've got some big players in the team as well."

Durante admits the Phoenix approach this season of handing the penalty shot to whoever feels most confident has failed.

Bonevacia's limp effort came two games after striker Nathan Burns tried to be too clever from the spot in a 0-0 draw with Melbourne City.

Durante nominated defensive midfielder Riera as his preferred marksman, pointing to a crisp technique at training, even if he hasn't proved himself in a game situation.

Handing the duties full-time to Burns is also an option.

"In my opinion, Albert's stepped up every time and looked really good. And he's a calm, composed bloke and you need that," Durante said.

"Then again, with Burnsy, you don't score 13 goals in a season if you're a shy guy who's intimidated by the spotlight."

Durante says it will confirm a penalty-taker later in the week but he stressed it won't distract from the build-up to its first play-off appearance in three seasons.

Despite winning just one of its last five games, he says the self-belief is good.

Confidence was boosted on Wednesday when experienced goalkeeper Glen Moss trained fully and pronounced himself fully recovered from the knee niggle that sidelined him last week.