One school of thought would see Herbert tempted to play his best side regardless of the situation, another would be to rest players in danger of suspension should they pick up a caution in the match, and the final option would be the sentimental selection of the South Island trio of Nelsen, Ben Sigmund and Jeremy Brockie.
The latter option would presumably see Reid and Shane Smeltz – undoubtedly in Herbert’s first-choice team – rested as they nurse back and hamstring niggles respectively.
Nelsen is a certainty to captain his country and appear in an international for the first time in front of his home crowd. It also seems unlikely that Herbert would drop either goal scorer Sigmund or Tommy Smith, his captain in Papeete.
All scenarios point to a return to the fabled back three, despite the successful use of fullbacks in Tahiti. It seems likely that Reid will be on the bench resting his injury which will no doubt appease his employers in London.
Regardless of the speculation, Herbert seems determined to use as much time as necessary before publicly naming his starting line-up, although he confirmed at the conclusion of the official training session at AMI Stadium that he was “looking at a couple of changes”.
The issue with cautions could be at the forefront of his thinking around changes following the suspension of Tim Payne for the Christchurch match. The 18-year-old picked up a yellow card in the match for third place at the OFC Nations Cup in June and will miss the return fixture after a second caution at Stade Pater on Saturday night.
No fewer than nine All Whites are walking the suspension tightrope, namely Reid, Sigmund, Smith, Smeltz, Brockie, Tony Lochhead, Michael McGlinchey, Ivan Vicelich and Chris Wood.
A yellow card in the match with Tahiti will rule them out of the clash against New Caledonia in March next year, and one any deeper in the competition could result in a suspension to be served during the inter-continental play-off.
Brockie made his All Whites debut the last time the national team played in Christchurch in 2006 in a friendly against Malaysia but Sigmund, like Nelsen, is yet to play in front of friends and family in his home town.
Home fans will no doubt appreciate the sight of local heroes in action and ticket sales for the fixture have been encouraging.
Accumulated travel fatigue could be a factor with the All Whites arriving in Christchurch on Sunday after three hours of sleep following the Tahiti match, coupled with a five-hour flight to Auckland, subsequent stopover and domestic transfer to Christchurch.
Herbert cancelled yesterday’s morning training session to ”give the players a lie-in and some extra recovery time” after the long trip back from Tahiti.
Normally, the turnaround between matches is four days but with the international dateline becoming a factor both sides have essentially lost their Saturday.
The All Whites re-energised with a trip to the children’s cancer ward at Christchurch Hospital and a public signing session at Riccarton Mall.
Meanwhile, Sigmund, Kosta Barbarouses and Marco Rojas helped launch ‘Nike Football in the Gap’ where an earthquake affected city block has been transformed into a community football pitch.
Regardless of his final selection, Herbert has adopted a business-as-usual approach to the match, citing the “need to pick up points and retain pole position” in the race for the Oceania spot in the inter-continental play-off with CONCACAF’s fourth-ranked team in November 2013.
The match kicks off at 7.35pm local time today at AMI Stadium in Christchurch.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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