MELBOURNE City players have been warned to tread warily in Wellington on Saturday against a Phoenix side decimated by international withdrawals.

Nominal Phoenix starters Kosta Barbarouses, Andrew Durante, Michael McGlinchey and Matt Ridenton are all in the United States with the New Zealand national team for friendlies against Mexico and the USA.

While City is also missing Tim Cahill to Socceroos duty, the imbalance in unavailabilities has gifted the Melbourne side a golden opportunity to get its campaign off to a winning start.

But defensive midfielder Osama Malik said City’s coaching staff had been keen to rid the squad of any sense of complacency heading in to the season opener.

“They’re a team that has recruited really well during the off-season and has still got a lot of quality available,” Malik said.

“And, look, the players who do come in aren’t going to want to lose their spots next week. So they’re going to be fighting hard to prove to the coach that they deserve to be there all the time.

“It’s always tough to go to Wellington and get a result, but I think we’ve got the quality in our side to do well and get a positive outcome so long as we do all of the right things.”