A groin injury has ruled the West Ham defender Winston Reid out of the All Whites squad for the Oceania Nations Cup starting this weekend in the Solomon Islands.
Reid didn't travel from his London base and will be replaced by the 21-year-old Waitakere United defender Tim Myers.
Reid has been carrying the injury since the end of the Hammers promotion-winning season and the potential five games in 10 days was too much risk for his club's medical staff.
Tommy Smith will captain the All Whites throughout the Nations Cup campaign.
The 22-year-old became the All Whites' youngest ever skipper as the side made an unbeaten start to his captaincy career with a draw against El Salvador and a win over Honduras in their two friendlies in Texas last week.
The squad touched down in Honiara yesterday and will train for the first time there today as they prepare for Saturday afternoon's first game against Fiji.
The winner of the Nations Cup advances to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the four semi-finalists progress to stage three of World Cup qualifying.
