11 Sep 2012

Sport: Nelsen says no risk of complacency against Solomons

10:15 am on 11 September 2012

The New Zealand football captain Ryan Nelsen says there's no chance of complacency creeping into his squad in Tuesday's Oceania World Cup Qualifying match against Solomon Islands in Auckland.

The All Whites opened the latest stage of qualifying with a 2-0 victory over New Caledonia in Noumea on Friday, while the Bontios beat Tahiti by the same scoreline.

The Solomons caused New Zealand trouble during their ill-fated Nations Cup campaign in Honiara and Nelsen says they can't afford to give them too many chances.

"They're a good team. They're unpredictable, they're athletic, they're fairly well organised now so it could be a tough one and we know we're not going to take them lightly. They'll miscontrol a pass one minute then hit one from 30 out the next. We know they're going to be tough - we've just got to focus on ourselves and do the job."

Tahiti host New Caledonia on Tuesday night local time in the other second round match.