Paul Ifill was in a giving mood on his 34th birthday and now yearns to receive a belated gift from Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick - a start against Newcastle, in Napier, on Sunday.



The super-sub tag does not quite sit comfortably with one of the club's elder statesmen and the provider of Jeremy's Brockie's equaliser against Western Sydney last Sunday hopes an impressive 45-minute stint against the Wanderers proves he is worthy of promotion from the bench at McLean Park.



Ifill was at the heart of a Phoenix resurgence that culminated in a meritorious 1-1 draw at Parramatta Stadium - a shock result that delayed one of the title favourite's celebrating their first win of the season until at least Saturday's derby with Sydney FC.



Introduced in the second half for a hard working Kenny Cunningham, Ifill slotted in smoothly as he continues to prove his fitness following a hamstring injury - and on the hour he threaded a perfect ball for Brockie to sweep past Ante Covic.



The pass was a reminder of his class but there was no guarantee he would start with a roving commission against the Jets.



"It was nice to get 45 minutes, I only played 40-odd last week [against Brisbane].



"I'm pushing for a start, I'm trying to do all I can to get back in the team and a second half like that won't hurt my chances I suppose," he said.



"Before if I was fit I was playing, now there's a lot more competition."



Although only two rounds into season there are encouraging signs that the current wooden spooners are going to be more competitive in 2013-14.



"It's a tough place to come, they make a hell of a noise," Ifill said. "I thought the boys dug in, it wasn't a great start but we had a go in the second half.



"Getting a point on the board is great away from home. We need to win at home now, I think it's about building on this result."



Meanwhile, Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick said his vision of playing expansive, entertaining football was gradually reaching fruition and the draw was a confidence booster after conceding a late goal to lose 2-1 to Brisbane in round one.



"It's about playing football ... trying to stop the long ball playing out from the back and to their credit they were first class," he said.



The Phoenix are scoring a goal per game so far and Merrick thought it was only a matter of time before the ratio improved.



"I've discovered a few new things about being with a club like the Phoenix," he said, making one distinction from his tenure at the Melbourne Victory.



"It's very hard to get pre-season games of quality. Most teams had 13-15 good quality pre-season games, we had nine and really only five were good quality.



"I feel as though we're still five or six games off our best football. We had a lot of injuries coming into pre-season and they're all coming good now."



He said the stalemate in front of a fervent Wanderers fan base of more than 16,000 was also a step forward psychologically.



"Before you can improve with your feet, you've got to improve upstairs. I thought last week we should have ground out a draw and this week we did it, that's a big improvement regarding mental toughness."