All Whites captain Winston Reid has been ruled out of Thursday morning's World Cup playoff in Mexico, and the return match in Wellington, with an ankle injury that's set to keep him out of football for up to 10 weeks.
Reid will miss the final part of New Zealand's campaign to qualify for Brazil after hurting his ankle in training for his Premier League side West Ham United - and a scan's revealed he'll miss at least six weeks and possibly up to 10.
Ipswich Town's Tommy Smith is likely to assume the captaincy again.
Already under pressure from a tight airline schedule to join the team in Los Angeles on time, Reid's unavailability will also put the participation of two of his New Zealand team-mates in their weekend Championship matches in doubt.
Smith and Leicester's Chris Wood were set to fly out with Reid on a privately chartered jet to Los Angeles following their weekend games, in order to meet New Zealand Football's requirements for the camp before the away leg in Mexico.
