The Jets face the Phoenix on Friday night in Wellington, where statistically they have been the A-League's worst-performed team.

Newcastle's record at Sky Stadium is three wins, one draw and 13 losses from 17 games.

That means they have lost a staggering 76.47 per cent of their games at the venue nicknamed the "Cake Tin".

No other visiting A-League team has lost more than eight games in the New Zealand capital.

The next-highest losing percentage in Wellington is Melbourne City's 58.3 per cent (seven losses from 12 games).

Newcastle also have a poor record at Perth's HBF Park, where they have won three, drawn four and lost 15 of their 22 games.

But while their winning ratio in the west (13.64 per cent) is lower than in Wellington (17.65 per cent), they lose only 68.18 per cent of their games in Perth.

Wellington's formidable record against Newcastle is far superior to their overall history at Sky Stadium, where they have won 64 of 144 games, at 44.4 per cent.

Asked about his team's cursed run in Wellington, where they have lost their past four games by a combined scoreline of 13-2, Boogaard admitted it was usually "bloody windy" and "the hardest place to play football in this league".

"It's a tough trip, everyone can't deny that," he said.

"Over the years they've made it difficult. They're always organised. They're always hard to beat.

"They have a good following that always bring them home late in games.

"It's a tough place to play, and regardless of which club I've been at, we've always found it difficult to go over there and get results.

"But it's another challenge for us ... the challenges keep coming.

"It's not going to get any easier, and we've got to understand that."

Boogaard has been cleared to play his first game since November 1 after overcoming a persistent groin injury.

The 33-year-old said he was happy to leave a call on what role he plays to caretaker coach Craig Deans.

"I've put my hand up, and whether he uses me or not is up to him," Boogaard said.

"He's in charge at the moment and I've got to respect that. I'll just keep pushing and training. We're all in it together."

Boogaard added, however, that if he was chosen to start: "I'd like to think I've got that in my body ... at the end of the day, if I take the park, in my mind I'm finishing the game."

At the halfway point in the season, Newcastle are last on the ladder by four points and nine points adrift of the top six.

The skipper said there was still plenty to play for and no shortage of belief within the team.

"You can turn things around and go on a run, and go from nowhere to top four in three to four weeks," he said.

"So points wise, it's irrelevant.

"Position wise, we need to understand that we are at the bottom of the table and that's not good enough.

"That's enough motivation. We don't need to know what the points gap is between us and the next team, because at the end of the day, we just need results."

The Jets have taken only one point from their past seven games, whereas Wellington have been the surprise packets of the season.

Last week's 1-0 loss was the first defeat in 10 games for Phoenix, who are outright fourth.