The All Whites will take an inexperienced line-up into their international football friendly with South Korea in Seoul tonight.
Chris Wood on All Whites duty Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coach Anthony Hudson has 10 uncapped players in his new look squad, including seven from New Zealand's domestic league.
A crowd of around 40 thousand is expected to support the Koreans, who finished runners-up in this year's Asian Cup.
There is some experience in the side in Phoenix midfielder Michael McGlinchey and Ipswich Town striker and captain Chris Wood, who have played 67 internationals between them.
Wood says he's been impressed with the new guys in the camp....
They've all stood out coming into this camp it's shown that there is a lot of depth in New Zealand football."
"It's always going to be a big occasion for anybody stepping out on the field in front of 40,000 people, it'll be a new experience for a few of the lads but I'm confident they can take it in their stride, enjoy it and get a good performance under their belt."
This is the All Whites only game in the international window.... South Korea drew 1-all with Uzbekistan on Friday.
South Korea is ranked 56 in the world and New Zealand 134.
Hudson enters his fourth game in charge of the All Whites with a clear understanding of what he wants from the meeting with Asian Cup runners-up Korea Republic.
Hudson has been with his squad in Seoul since early last week as he continues to work to a plan which calls for the nation's young talent to put their hand up for inclusion in the coming journey of the All Whites towards Russia in 2018.
The coach says a number of the new additions to the group have responded well in their time together over the last seven days.
Anthony Hudson, All Whites coach. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"We've looked at a lot in training this week and we've been impressed with how some of the younger lads have come in and imposed themselves on the group," Hudson said.
"This is our last chance to identify the young players we can potentially bring with us for the rest of the campaign and I want to see, within this context, which of those are going to be the ones."
"Further down the line we're going to have to rely on some of those players."
"There are a few of the younger lads that have been doing our style of play for a little while now with the Wanderers and we've had a little bit of contact with them."
"That goes a long way as well, a young player will be given more of a chance if he understands his role in relation to the team."
"We want to see an improvement on our style of play in certain key aspects of it and the players who have been with us from day one to be more evolved in what we're doing and be more vocal and take more responsibility."
Turning his attention inward, Hudson said the focus of his group will be firmly on moving their progression forwards along the timeline which leads to the beginning of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying later this year.
