Wellington Phoenix had their first run at the new training venue at Martin Luckie Park on Tuesday and the facilities were given a tick by the players.
Full-back Tom Doyle and attacking midfielder Michael McGlinchey spoke in glowing terms about the recently completed training venue, which the Phoenix have moved to from Newtown Park.
The Phoenix's previous training base didn't have the greatest pitch but McGlinchey claimed there would be no excuses for Wellington at Martin Luckie.
"Yeah, it's fantastic to have two pitches like that for us," he told reporters.
"We've been struggling a bit over at Newtown. It's been difficult conditions but here we've got no excuses now. We should be getting the ball down and playing."
Next Match
Doyle added: "It's nice to come in here. It's got a great home feel about it.
"Obviously we've been at Newtown for a long time but this place, it feels special. The ground's looking bloody good, actually, so it was nice to get out for a run today."
Wellington are set for their first away trip in four games on Sunday when they will visit reigning A-League champions Adelaide United.
The Phoenix won two and lost one of their three home matches last week and although they were disappointed to concede a late goal in their defeat to Brisbane Roar on Saturday, Doyle insists Wellington still have positive momentum.
Since former coach Ernie Merrick quit at the start of December after a 2-0 loss at Adelaide, the Kiwi club have suffered just two defeats in eight matches.
That run leaves the Phoenix inside the A-League's top six, just ahead of seventh-placed Western Sydney Wanderers on goal difference.
"We're slowly creeping up the table and cementing ourselves in that top six," Doyle said.
"So we want to get away from the dogfight a lot. So being consistent now and getting results is big, it's massive and this [Sunday's fixture in Adelaide] is a big game."
