Town duo Tommy Smith and Monty Patterson are likely to add to their New Zealand caps when the All Whites take on Belarus in their final pre-Confederations Cup friendly at the Traktor Stadium in Minsk this evening.

The New Zealanders will be looking for a positive display and a victory ahead of the prestigious competition in Russia.

“This is another really important 90 minutes under our belt,” manager Anthony Hudson said. “It gives me a chance to look at one or two more things leading into the first game of the tournament.

“We are looking for a big improvement. I fully expect this to be a bigger performance which gives us a lot of confidence leading into the tournament.”

The All Whites travelled to St Petersburg on Friday following a training camp in Ireland where they beat Dublin side Cabinteely 5-2 in a friendly - Smith scored the opening goal - having previously spent time in Northern Ireland where they were defeated 1-0 by their national team.

Smith and his New Zealand room-mate, former Blues loanee Chris Wood, travelled to Russia late after the Town defender’s wedding in Suffolk on Saturday.

In the Confederations Cup itself, where Wood will be skipper in the absence of regular captain Winston Reid, New Zealand will take on the hosts in St Petersburg in the opening group game on Saturday 17th June, Mexico in Sochi four days later and then Portugal back in St Petersburg on Saturday June 24th.

Central defender Smith, 27, is likely to add to his 32 caps and two international goals this evening, while 20-year-old Patterson, a midfielder or striker who is yet to make his senior debut for the Blues, has previously won 10 caps, netting once.

Meanwhile, Blues youngster Kundai Benyu wasn’t involved with Zimbabwe as they beat Liberia 3-0 in Harare in their first Africa Cup of Nations qualifier yesterday.

The 19-year-old was initially reported to be in the squad but wasn’t in the party named last month.

We understand that Benyu is keen to play for the country of his parents’ birth and that discussions with the Zimbabwean FA are ongoing.

As reported in May, contract discussions between Benyu and the Blues are also continuing and an agreement on a new deal is expected to be confirmed over the summer with a report that the former Aldershot loanee has turned down his new deal wide of the mark.

Claims that Tottenham, West Ham, Aston Villa and Celtic are keen to sign him appear unlikely and purely speculative.

All Whites: Stefan Marinovic (SpVgg Unterhaching), Tamati Williams (RKC Waalwijk), Glen Moss (Newcastle Jets), Andrew Durante (Wellington Phoenix), Thomas Doyle (Wellington Phoenix), Storm Roux (Central Coast Mariners), Michael Boxall (SuperSport Utd), Kip Colvey (San Jose Earthquakes), Themi Tzimopoulos (PAS Giannina), Deklan Wynne (Vancouver Whitecaps), Sam Brotherton (Sunderland), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Dane Ingham (Brisbane Roar), Bill Tuiloma (Marseille), Clayton Lewis (Auckland City), Michael McGlinchey (Wellington Phoenix), Ryan Thomas (PEC Zwolle), Marco Rojas (Melbourne Victory), Alex Rufer (Wellington Phoenix), Chris Wood (c) (Leeds Utd), Monty Patterson (Ipswich Town), Shane Smeltz (Borneo), Kosta Barbarouses (unattached).

Photo: TWTD

Ferguson added 11:47 - Jun 12 I will be VERY pleased if we keep Benyu. We can play him next season in our amazing, against all odds, FA Cup winning side.......................................................................................
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12th_Man added 19:24 - Jun 12 Unused substitute and lost 1v0
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