Town defender Tommy Smith has been named in a provisional New Zealand squad for games against China and Japan later this month. All Whites boss Ricki Herbert has also revealed that he expects Smith to be involved in New Zealand's Olympic side at London 2012.

Herbert's men face China in Wuhan on March 25th and then Asian Champions Japan in Tokyo on March 29th.

The All Whites coach has picked a young squad for the two games partly with Olympic qualification in mind with the London 2012 football tournament being played at U23 level.

"The Olympics are a prestigious event and it's important that we qualify for it and do well. It also has flow on benefits for our Brazil 2014 [World Cup] campaign," Herbert said.

"We'll have the likes of Tommy Smith, Chris Wood, Kosta Barbarouses and three over-age players all eligible for London, and there'll be some players pushing for inclusion in the All Whites as we get further down the World Cup cycle.

“It makes sense to have greater crossover between the two environments in terms of players and staff."

Town could also have striker Connor Wickham in action for an England side representing Great Britain at the Olympics.

New Zealand: Glen Moss (Gold Coast United), Jake Gleeson (Portland Timbers), Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix), Andrew Boyens (Chivas), Michael Boxall (Vancouver Whitecaps), Michael Fitzgerald (Albirex Niigata), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers), Winston Reid (West Ham), Luke Rowe (Birmingham City), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jeta), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Christie (Tampa Bay), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Simon Elliott (Chivas), Craig Henderson (Mjallby), Michael Mcglinchey (Central Coast Mariners), Cole Peverley (Charleston Battery), David Mulligan (Auckland City), Marco Rojas (Wellington Phoenix) , Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Kosta Barbarouses (Brisbane Roar), Kris Bright (Budapest Honvéd), Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle), Chris Killen (Shenzhen Ruby), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion).

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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