The 27 year-old All Whites star, who was contracted to Central Coast Mariners until 1 January 2015, had been at the centre of a protracted dispute.

The Mariners finally released McGlinchey from his contract two weeks ago and the creative midfielder turned out for Phoenix in warm-up matches across the Tasman against Newcastle Jets, Sydney United and Sydney FC last week.

Phoenix completes an intensive pre-season against Canterbury United in Wellington on Sunday, with its A-League opener against Perth Glory two weeks later.

McGlinchey, who was first linked with Phoenix in June, said it had been difficult watching his teammates from the sidelines.

"It was a really frustrating time for me," he said.

"I didn't think it was going to be for as long as it was - I thought it'd be over in a week."

He said it had been particularly disheartening to miss Phoenix's July games against English Premier League teams Newcastle United and West Ham United.

"It's something I've never been through before. When you're injured, you know because you've got something wrong with you," he said.

"But when you know you're ready to go, and you can't play, it's very frustrating.

"I just had to stay strong and not let it get to me too much. Because the bigger picture was I wanted to become a Phoenix player."

McGlinchey is also keen to rectify what he sees as an undoubted tendency for Australian clubs to underrate Phoenix.

"I was part of it. Coming over to the Phoenix, and I don't want to be disrespectful, but it was almost like you knew you were getting three points," he said.

"We need to change that mentality, because they do write us off early doors, and we need to change that."