The regular starter Wellington Phoenix Phoenix know they can’t keep

Wellington Phoenix are resigned to losing left-back Lucas Mauragis at the end of the season.

The 21-year-old Australian has made the position his own after joining the club on loan from Newcastle Jets, starting the past eight games.

But Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay confirmed Mauragis will be jetting back to Newcastle next season, where he is contracted until 2023-24.

“Players come and go, and coaches come and go. We will utilise Lucas the best we can for the best outcome for the team,” he said.

Mauragis’s run of eight consecutive starts began when incumbent Sam Sutton was struck down by illness ahead of their round seven clash against Western Sydney Wanderers.

Mauragis has barely put a foot wrong since coming into the starting lineup.

He has played the full 90 minutes in the past five matches, including Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Perth Glory in Palmerston North.

It was his move down the left that sparked the Phoenix’s second goal, scored by Kosta Barbarouses.

Barbarouses tapped home from the rebound after goalkeeper Cam Cook spilt the cross from Mauragis.

However, Mauragis was also caught out on the Glory’s first goal, allowing John Koutrombous to get in behind and tee up David Williams at the far post.

“I feel like I’ve got high expectations of myself and where I’m at today, I’m really happy,” Mauragis said ahead of the game.

“Coming to Wellington I knew it was an opportunity to develop as a player and getting game time is something I’ve always wanted, so to do so currently is awesome.”

Mauragis’s most memorable moment in a Phoenix shirt came in their 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar three weeks ago.

He set up in-form striker Oskar Zawada’s match-winner by delivering a wonderful cross for the Pole to head home.

“He’s a really good target to have. He wins a lot of ball so as fullbacks you just put it in the air and there’s a high probability he will get on the end of it.

“Here, the boss likes us fullbacks to be whipping the crosses in and getting Oskar onto the end of it.”

It was somewhat ironic that Mauragis ended up in Wellington as it was James McGarry’s arrival from the Phoenix that squeezed him out.

The Jets still viewed him as a player with potential though, so instead of letting Mauragis join another club on a permanent deal, they extended his contract for two years and offered him up for loan.

With McGarry gone, the Phoenix were in the market for another left-back to back-up Sutton, who had been a regular starter for the past two seasons, so it was a win-win for both clubs.

“It was similar to my first year with Libby [Cacace]. I brought in Walter [Scott]. I didn’t want to bring in an older player on top of Sutts, I wanted to bring in a similar-age player where they can challenge each other and push each other,” Talay said.

“If we brought in a 26-27 year-old left-back maybe Sutts would’ve felt he wasn’t going to get a sniff, so I wanted to bring in a player of the same age with the same ambition to maximise their potential.”

But at the moment, Sutton can’t get a look in.

“Sutts has been unfortunate in that space by getting sick leading into a game and I’m quite fair with my players and he [Mauragis] has done alright to keep that position.”