Phoenix youngster Sarpreet Singh will be in Wellington's starting side for the remainder of the season, coach Darije Kalezic has confirmed.
The 18-year-old made his first start or the club and was one of the Phoenix's best during his 67 minutes on the field as Wellington claimed a 2-1 win over Perth Glory.
The midfielder scored the opening goal of the match inside the opening three minutes
Speaking to reporters after the match, Kalezic said he was impressed with how Singh handled himself on the field.
"I say last week the time is for natural selection, that means the players who don't get a lot of chances in the current season are going to get the chance from now," said Kalezic.
"Sarpeet is a player who deserves to play and get more minutes to see what he can perform and I'm really glad he performed really well.
"Obviously it is difficult for him to play 90 minutes long, but in his 67 minutes he played a really good game and only what I can say is keep going Sarpreet and congratulations."
Singh scored the first goal of the match off a thunderbolt strike outside the box to give the home side the early lead.
The Glory equalised in the 36th minute through Diego Castro and then with the scores locked up at 1-1, Glory defender Shane Lowry scored an own-goal in stoppage time to seal the win for Wellington.
The win was the Phoenix's fourth of the season and it was a much-needed one for the struggling club.
The result ends the Phoenix's three-match losing streak, including successive 4-0 defeats, keeping their faint hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive.
They now sit nine points off sixth place with seven rounds to play, and Kalezic is determined to keep on winning for the faithful fans.
"We are going to fight for every point for our Yellow Fever, for our owners, for our club.
"We are the team from Wellington and we need to have a good mentality and courage.
"We are not thinking out playoffs, we have to think about our mentality and identity and that's fighting for our fans, for the club and the city till the end."
The Phoenix will face fellow strugglers, the Central Coast Mariners, in their next match on February 23.
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