Phoenix to appeal Pavlovic dismissal

Wellington Phoenix will appeal against the red card shown to Mirjan Pavlovic in their scrappy 1-0 A-League win against Perth Glory.

Substitute Pavlovic, who came on late for Dani Sanchez and won the corner that led to Ben Sigmund’s winner, was sent-off by referee Ryan Shepheard deep into stoppage time for a cynical challenge from behind on Steve Pantelidis.

“We’ll appeal it. I think it’s in our rights to do that,” Wellington coach Ricki Herbert said.

“We’ll see what the outcome is and we’ll accept whatever the outcome is.”

That red card and a groin injury suffered by left back Tony Lochhead late in the game took some of the shine off the much-needed win which was secured by Sigmund’s header with five minutes of regular time to go.

Lochhead has a history of groin problems and Herbert admitted it was unlikely the New Zealand defender would be available for Wednesday night’s match against Brisbane Roar in Dunedin.

Saturday’s game against Glory at Westpac Stadium was a scrappy, often ill-tempered affair, where chances for either side were few and far between.

The yellow cards came thick and fast for the Phoenix though with Paul Ifill, Lochhead and Tim Brown all booked before the break.

Perth’s Todd Howarth and Josh Mitchell then saw yellow in the second half before Pavlovic’s sending-off.

“I think it was a bit of a wrestle,” Herbert said of the stop-start match.

“But you get that a little bit with Perth. They are very direct and strong and in your face.”

“We probably struggled to get the ball moving like how we’ve done over the last couple of weeks.”

“But I think there was maybe only one team that was going to win it in the second half even though it was a little bit scrambling at the end with them being desperate too.”

“It was a very good goal from Ben and I’m pleased. It was a clean sheet, at home. A good three points.”