Smith Awaiting New Zealand Call

The centre-back has been named in an initial squad of 30 by New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert and has his fingers crossed that he will make the cut for the trip to South Africa.

He told the official Ipswich website, www.itfc.co.uk: "Obviously I'm hoping to be included in the team for the World Cup and I think the manager is announcing the squad soon - possibly at the end of next week."

He added: "Making my debut against Mexico in March in front of 90,000 was an amazing occasion and hopefully I have done enough.

"The team is going to Austria for high altitude training in preparation for the World Cup but the most important thing is being in the final squad."