Soccer: Long days' journey into Knights

Mercenaries interested in a quick buck need not come knocking at the door of the New Zealand Knights.

Coach John Adshead has made it patently clear he is only interested in players who are desperately keen to play for this club - not one-season wonders.

"If they are not prepared to commit to what we want, we are not interested," he said.

"I have no fears about filling the allotted 20 places we have and keeping under the salary cap.

"Some are already signed, others are in the pipeline after the trials we had a week or so ago, and when [assistant coach] Tommy Mason gets back from the UK in about three weeks, I'm sure we will have three or four more.

"If I feel we are one or two players short in the end, I know of four or five players in Oman who would be good enough to play here."

Adshead hints that places are available for New Zealand-based players.

"There are probably at least four New Zealand players in the mix at this stage."

He has also had discussions with All Whites striker Vaughan Coveny, now in Melbourne, and does not dismiss the possibility of him linking with the North Harbour Stadium-based club.

"He is still a player we are looking at, but we are not sure what he has in mind. If he doesn't get a contract with the Melbourne club in the Hyundai A-League, he might look at coming back.

"We won't be offering the money he might have got up front in the past, but we are keen to offer an incentive scheme to all our players."

Mason, on a scouting trip to Britain, already has names of players to check out.

"He is looking in specific areas," Adshead said. "We need a couple of strikers, a midfielder and some left-sided players.

"The trials, which attracted half-a-dozen young players from Australia, and, among others, one from England who has been playing in Malaysia, were good value. One really put his hand up, another probably half up.

"Coupled with that. and along with what I saw on my trip to Sydney and Melbourne, there are at least three other players capable of making the grade."

Adshead has been encouraged by the attitude of British players keen to come to New Zealand for a lifestyle change.

"There are two or three at least who have said to me, 'You give me the chance to establish me and my family in your country and I'll give you two quality years'. That is the kind of attitude I'm looking for."

The commitments these players have in Britain will almost certainly keep them away until late May-early June, at which time Adshead is looking to start full-on training.

He must also juggle commitments to the All Whites' match with Australia in London in early June, as well as the Oceania club championship in Tahiti at the same time.

"I have talked at length with [All Whites coach] Ricki Herbert about a number of players," Adshead said. "He has been very valuable. I now know that a player like Raf de Gregorio is committed to a club in Finland until Christmas. We have to accept that.

"We have seen two or three players who might have contemplated going to the States. We want to stop that and feel we can offer them an incentive to stay here."

Adshead expects to announce names in a few days.