Auckland City FC youngster Clayton Lewis desperate for start at Fifa Club World Cup

Auckalnd City FC celebrate a goal. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Clayton Lewis says patience and hard work can pay off as he works towards breaking into the Auckland City FC starting 11 for Thursday's Fifa Club World Cup opener with Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan.

The 18-year-old All Whites forward, who boasts three caps for his country, has found opportunities limited at club level with fellow All Whites Ryan De Vries, Joao Moreira and Solomon Islands international Micah Lea'alafa all ahead of him in the pecking order.

But Lewis says he remains focused on working hard to state his case for a starting spot when the winner-takes-all match swings around later this week.

"It doesn't matter if you are starting a game or come on as a substitute, you have to train to the best of your ability every time, it doesn't matter what the situation is. I'm most comfortable as an attacking midfielder but I'll play wherever I'm asked to.

"The Club World Cup was a big motivator to join Auckland City FC and the fact the club has dominated domestic and regional football back home was another reason.

"The way the team plays is attractive and I believed the passing style and possession-based game Auckland City FC plays suits my type of game," he said.

Lewis, teammate Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, Jesse Edge and Michale Den Heijer were all part of the New Zealand U-20 World Cup squad who adopted a game plan geared towards retaining the ball.

The switch from that interpretation of play to the Auckland City FC brand of football was not complicated and to top that all off, he's made the breakthrough into the All Whites set-up.

"The transition hasn't been too difficult. At Wanderers SC, we wanted to keep the ball as much as possible and then penetrate in the attacking third as much as we could and it's similar to Auckland City FC. We like to switch our focus in attack at times in areas I enjoy playing in which is good.

"Being away with the All Whites is a massive honour and privilege and I've had some experience of Asian football before with the national team, so hopefully that experience can be useful here in Japan," he said.

Auckland City FC's opponent on Thursday has won three J.League titles in four seasons and boasts annual revenue rumoured to be around $75 million with the total revenue generated by the J.League itself close to a billion dollars.

"Everyone knows how technical Japan's players are on the ball and how they possess a lot of pace. We all know how tough Sanfrecce Hiroshima are going to be. We have to keep a it very tight in defence and in midfield and concentrate for the whole match to get close to them," Lewis said.

The match kicks off at 11.45pm (NZ time) on Thursday.