Roy Krishna's manager says the Phoenix star has not fabricated an injury to force a move away from Wellington, despite two specialists clearing him of any damage.

Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic spoke of his disappointment after Krishna did not train with the team on Friday, complaining of further muscle soreness. He therefore ruled the forward out of Sunday night's crucial game away to sixth-place Western Sydney Wanderers.

"Roy was complaining about tightness which pushed us to send him – like Dura [Andrew Durante] – to Auckland for a second opinion, and we had the same results like we got in Wellington," Kalezic said.

"That gives us expectation and hope that he will play against Western Sydney. He trained yesterday with the squad and he complained with the same result like in previous weeks. He didn't train today so he will not be in the squad against Western Sydney and that's only what I can say about Roy Krishna in this moment."

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Krishna's ongoing absence sparked speculation that the Fijian international, who is off-contract at the end of the current A-League season, was trying to avoid triggering the automatic extension in his contract, should he play a certain amount of games.

His manager Rex Dawkins confirmed Krishna does have such a clause in his contract. However, he denied that Krishna was trying to force a move away from the Phoenix to avoid triggering it, commenting that "he is not going to sit out the rest of the season".

"That's nonsense," he said. "We were doing everything possible to get Roy on the field for the weekend. There's no question that he did have a slight injury. He's 30 years of age and he's reasonably protective of his body at the moment. He trained very, very hard yesterday with the team and felt a bit of soreness after training so, in consultation with the physio, did bike work this morning while they were training."

Comment has been sought from Phoenix general manager David Dome, through the club's media manager.

Dawkins said he was caught off guard by Kalezic's comment that Krishna had been ruled out as he was under the impression that he was still a chance to travel to Sydney. He said Krishna was due for one final fitness test on Saturday.

"He was hopeful that he was going to be on the plane but obviously the decision was made for him by the coach. It was certainly not Roy that decided he wasn't playing," he said.

Dawkins also confirmed that the Phoenix rejected a big money offer from Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids. He said Krishna was "initially disappointed" with the Phoenix's decision to rule out what would have been a groundbreaking move for the player from the small Fijian town of Labasa.

"The offer for Roy came out of the blue and basically we looked at it knowing Roy was under contract for the rest of the season. We tried to negotiate a release for Roy, and Roy was really, really keen to go to Colorado. It was an amazing opportunity for Roy, especially coming from the islands.

"Honestly it would have probably made news around the football world, and it would have been a big thing for Colorado as well. It wasn't to be, and we're all disappointed. But the Phoenix were within their rights to reject the offer, there's no question about it and life moves on."

In what will be welcome news for Wellington supporters, Dawkins remained confident that Krishna will see out the season with the Phoenix and said that negotiations were ongoing in regards to a new deal.

He said Krishna – one goal short of equalling Paul Ifill as the club's leading scorer – has "earned his stripes" and his pay deserves to be reflective of a senior player.

"Our first priority is to negotiate with the Phoenix and they've been really professional in their approach. They have taken everything that we have said on board," he said. "Roy - all things being equal - I think he will be there."