Squad to be named tomorrow for June games.
Payne & Roux both ruled out. Presumably Dalton Wilkins is still out injured as well.
People will hate the idea, but it is almost a waste having one of Boxall, Surman or Bindon on the bench with a back 4. Could Bindon play at least one of these games as a makeshift RB, with Payne & Roux out? I guess you give Elliot or Kirwan/Tuiloma first crack against Ivory Coast and see how they go.
Interesting comments that Sail maybe dumped for Tzanev. That's after Oli's fine game against Auckland recently for the Glory. Also Gray ahead of Kees Sims in the pecking order now?
And seems new dad Wood is going to be available, despite my thoughts Forest may want him to have a rest after a long season, and European football in a few months.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360696525/all-whites-depth-be-tested-perennial-problem-position-june-friendliesPayne missed the Wellington Phoenix's last A-League Men match and their Australia Cup playoff with an injury and is also about to become a father.
Roux suffered an injury in training with the Central Coast Mariners shortly after receiving a three-match ban for elbowing Newcastle Jets defender Callum Timmins in the chest during the F3 Derby on April 12.
Auckland FC's Callan Elliot is expected to be the main beneficiary and receive his first callup since June 2023. While he has been stuck behind his captain, Hiroki Sakai, at club level, he has consistently impressed when given the chance.
Dane Ingham, Niko Kirwan and Bill Tuiloma will be the contenders to claim the other spot on offer in what is likely to be a 23-man squad, named this Thursday.
Right back has long been a problem position for the All Whites. While Payne and Roux have accounted for 16 of the 22 starts there under current coach Darren Bazeley, eight different players have been used there in the last four years.
At centre back, Finn Surman is set to return after missing the World Cup qualifiers in March to nail down a starting sport at his MLS club, Portland Timbers. He has done so and then some, earning rave reviews from his coach, former England international Phil Neville.
He will miss a Timbers match while in Toronto and that makes it likely he will start at least one international, as Bazeley won't want to take him away for his club, then not play him.
Whether the 21-year-old's return means Tommy Smith – the fifth-choice centre back – drops out is unclear. Five centre backs is arguably one too many for a team that play with two, but Bazeley places a lot of stock in the Auckland veteran’s off-field leadership.
While Ryan Thomas started nine of PEC Zwolle's last 10 matches in the Dutch Eredivisie, the October international window – where the All Whites will play in Poland and Norway – remains the target for his hotly-anticipated return.
Another striker, Moses Dyer, is believed to have put himself on Bazeley’s radar with his goalscoring form for Galway United in the League of Ireland, but isn’t in line to return just yet.
There could also be a change in the third goalkeeper role, where Oli Sail has been the foil for the Al Whites’ No 1, Max Crocombe, and his deputy, Alex Paulsen, over the past 12 months.
Nik Tzanev would be the man to come in, with Henry Gray, the other option, set to play for the national under-20 team against Chile at the same time the All Whites are in action.
