Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick has been told five of his players will be away on All Whites duty in the United States early in the new A-League season.
Merrick was told in advance by All Whites coach Anthony Hudson which players will be selected for New Zealand's double-header against Mexico and the United States.
While Merrick said he would never deny any of his players the chance to play for their countries, he's bemoaned Football Federation Australia (FFA) for not postponing his team's opening match against Melbourne City on October 8.
"In the days prior to FIFA forcing clubs to acknowledge and respect international windows, if you had two players out you had to play the game, if you had three players out the game was automatically postponed," said Merrick.
"Maybe to bring back that type of rule would be a good idea."
"We've built a really good team because we're doing so well there are more players going to play for New Zealand, but that's going to be a penalty for producing quality All Whites players."
The All Whites squad will be announced next week and the Phoenix players involved will definitely miss the opening match against Melbourne, before facing an arduous trip from Washington D.C. through Los Angeles and Sydney just days before the Round Two match in Perth.
The A-League has opted to have a split round in early March, which means neither Melbourne City or the Phoenix have a match on the weekend of March 11.
The Phoenix requested to postpone the match to this date but a club spokesperson told Newshub that it was declined on the basis that the league didn't want to have two clubs having played one less match than others for much of the season.
For example, after round two, every team would have played twice but the Phoenix and Melbourne City would be sitting on one match played.
Uneven fixture lists are the norm in leagues across the world, with European leagues in particular often falling three or four games out due to other cup and continental competitions.
Tom Doyle under the watchful eye of All Whites coach Anthony Hudson (Photosport)
Defender Tom Doyle is expected to be one of the five named in the All Whites squad, with new Phoenix signing Adam Parkhouse running at left back in training and a recent friendly against the Central Coast Mariners.
Kosta Barbarouses, Louis Fenton, Michael McGlinchey, Logan Rogerson and Matthew Ridenton also featured alongside Doyle for the All Whites during the OFC Nations Cup in June.
The Phoenix is unlikely to come up against Melbourne star Tim Cahill with the attacker almost certain to be on international duty with Australia.
Cahill did play against the Phoenix in last week's pre-season friendly in Townsville which saw the Phoenix come out 4-1 winners.
Newshub.
