KEY POINTS:
Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert will have to shuffle his pack carefully when he puts out New Zealand's only professional soccer team in two matches against New Zealand Football Championship clubs this month.
The NZFC - sadly reduced from 21 to just 14 rounds this season - kicks off tomorrow but early season interest will be on the matches the Phoenix will play against Waitakere United (a week tomorrow) and Hawkes Bay United (November 26).
Herbert has already said he views these matches as the opportunity to put out players who have had little or no game time in the Hyundai A-League. He points to the lack of a reserve team and having no side in the Australian Youth League as a major disadvantage.
The games at Trusts Stadium and Park Island give him an opportunity to give game-hungry players much needed match play.
But, given the club's determination to show they have the country's strongest team - and as such should be given their chance in the O-League, with a view of winning through to Fifa's World Club Cup tournament - winning these games is vital to back that argument.
The NZFC franchises see it differently, pointing to the World Club Cup as their only incentive for playing in a competition which offers no prizemoney. Beating the Phoenix would underline their determination to retain their two O-League spots.
Waitakere see their match against the Phoenix as a key part of their build-up to the Fifa tournament. It will give them an indication of what to expect from what now seems a certain first-up game in Japan against A-League club Adelaide United.
Beaten 3-0 by Gamba Osaka in the first leg of the Asian Champions League final in Japan on Wednesday, Adelaide face a massive task in Wednesday's return.
If they do not take the title, they will play Waitakere in the first game of the World Club Cup with the winner to play Gamba Osaka. The winner of that game will progress to a semifinal against Manchester United.
In squaring off in their O-League opener last Sunday, Auckland City and Waitakere showed they will again be right in the race for NZFC honours and the chance to again stake a claim for a start in the 2008-09 O-League. City are back at Kiwitea St this Sunday and should find Otago much easier than Waitakere, with whom they had a decent tussle for a 2-2 draw.
Elsewhere, YoungHeart Manawatu should win away over Canterbury United, Hawkes Bay should take the points from Waikato FC, and Waitakere have the advantage of last Sunday's game to be ready for a winning trip to Wellington.
