Boss Roy Keane was delighted to see central defender Tommy Smith make his full international debut for New Zealand in midweek. Smith made his All Whites bow in a 2-0 friendly defeat to Mexico in California.
Keane said: "It’s good for the boy. He was weighing up his options, he could have played for England, but the New Zealand coach was in touch with him and it’s brilliant for him.
"Any young player getting international recognition will have the World Cup in the back of his mind, but he’ll have a lot to do because New Zealand have qualified for South Africa without his help. But that doesn’t mean he can’t sneak in the back door.
"It’ll be brilliant for him. He’s out on loan at Brentford, but he’s not played that many games because they’ve had a few called off.”
Macclesfield-born Smith had previously played for England’s U17s but decided switch allegiance to New Zealand, the country where he lived between the ages of eight and 16, at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, Keane has wished former Blue Shane Supple luck as he starts to progress into senior Gaelic football.
Supple, who has been playing for local side St Brigid's, will be on the bench for his county Dublin for the first time when they face Mayo on Sunday.
Keane says he hopes the ex-Irish Un21 international does well in his new sport: "I knew he was getting into the GAA sports, but I heard he’d been injured. Of course we wish him luck.”
The Blues boss says he has been impressed with the quality of keeping in the Gaelic game: "The standard is very, very good. It must be if he’s on the bench, they must have a good goalkeeper.”