Doyle eager to stake his claim

Tom Doyle would like to play for the All Whites in Honiara today, but if he doesn’t, he won’t begrudge the man taking his place one bit.

The Wellington Phoenix defender has been engaged in a long-running battle for the team’s left wingback spot with Deklan Wynne, who started on Friday night, in the first leg of their World Cup qualifying tie, a 6-1 win over the Solomon Islands

Doyle should come into the team today, as the All Whites look for fresh legs to combat the Honiara heat, and he said that while his contest with Wynne may appear awkward from the outside, it was nothing like that on the inside.

‘‘If you stand up and stake your claim, you deserve to be playing there,’’ he said after training on Sunday.

‘‘So we come to training with a high intensity, and try to stake our claim, and that’s what the team is demanding of each other - it’s what we demand of each other, Deklan and I. It’s a great rivalry, it’s something the team has always wanted, so it’s a positive thing, a very, very positive thing.’’

Anthony Hudson has been clear in his desire to build depth in the All Whites ranks, and left wingback may be where he has the smallest gap between his firstchoice option and his second.

‘‘Heading into the World Cup qualifiers, to have that in nearly every position, if not every position, is something we’ve strived for as a team,’’ said Doyle.

‘‘Deklan and I have got a great relationship as teammates and we push each other at training and he played unbelievable on the weekend again, so if my chance comes I’ll try and take it, but it’s good to know that [whoever plays] that role is going to be done well for the team, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about.’’

The All Whites left Auckland early yesterday, and were due to arrive in Honiara less than 24 hours out from kickoff today, which is set for 3pm (NZ time). Chris Wood and Ryan Thomas weren’t with them, after being released on Saturday, and neither was Michael Mcglinchey, who was unlikely to play anyway as he is one yellow card away from a suspension.

While it’s always risky reading too much into training ground shape, there’s a chance Doyle and Wynne could both start in the second leg, with Doyle playing in the back three rather than on the flank. They lined up like that for long stretches of Sunday’s session, and Doyle, who played there growing up, said he would do whatever was asked of him.

‘‘We’ve been focusing on other people’s roles a lot - you need to know what everyone is doing around the park, so I’ve been studying what Boxy and Dura and Tommy have been doing through the Confederations Cup, so I know that role inside and out.

‘‘We’ll see, hopefully it goes well if I play there in the next game.’’

The Solomon Islands need to win 5-0, or by six goals if the All Whites score, in order to come back and take the home-and-away tie, which is an extremely unlikely prospect, given they have never won in 11 matches between the two nations. A 5-1 Solomon Islands win would force extra time.

The Solomon Islands will welcome back attacker Micah Lea’alafa, who didn’t travel for Friday’s game, affected by a visa issue, and his fresh legs will lead the way as they try to grab a historic win - their four games against the All Whites at home or on neutral territory in the past five years have been 1-0, 2-0, and 4-3 losses and a 1-1 draw.

Assuming they don’t implode, the All Whites will next turn their focus to November, and a homeand-away playoff with the fifthbest team from South America, where a place at next year’s World Cup will be at stake.