Auckland FC coach backs depth in defence after Dan Hall expected to miss three months

Auckland FC boss Steve Corica won’t hit the transfer panic button, despite losing one of his most consistent performers.

Defender Dan Hall, whose outings for the A-League newcomers had generated murmurs of a Socceroos call-up, will be sidelined for up to three months with a broken ankle sustained in training.

The A-League leaders have depth in the position; All White Tommy Smith is the natural next cab off the rank and captain Hiroki Sakai has filled in previously, leading Corica to take a more cautious approach to filling the position.

“Obviously Tommy’s a good option as well, we played Hiroki last week. He’s played there before in pre-season for us, Hiroki. We’ll make them decisions,” he said.

The loss of Hall until an expected return late in the season is a blow for both Auckland and the 25-year-old, who formed a strong partnership with Nando Pijnaker in the side’s five-match clean sheet run, with Corica backing the calls for an Australian national team selection.

“There was talk of him getting into the national team, so they’ll have to wait for a little while now but he’s a positive guy and he’ll come back strong.”

Corica will be hoping midfielder Louis Verstraete will return this week against Western United and alleviate some of the workload on defenders – the Belgian has been a revelation for Auckland and played a major role in their defensive success.

Louis Verstraete's return to match fitness will help take pressure off Auckland FC's backline. Photo / Photosport

“Hopefully this week we might have Louis Verstraete back which will help if he is, he trained yesterday he’ll have today off but he’ll train tomorrow again. If he gets through we’ll play him and then we’ll see with the rest of the team.”

That said, Corica is aware of the continued need to explore recruitment and the upcoming Fifa January transfer window could provide an opportunity to fill the gap left by Hall.

“We’ll look into that, we’ll see what’s available. Dan’s out for three months so if we can bring in a replacement for him we maybe will look at that.

“We want obviously to make sure it’s the right move if we’re going to do it, otherwise I do think we have the depth in the squad to cover that position. We’ve got Hiroki, we’ve got Tommy who can play there as well, Adama [Coulibaly] can also play in that position at the back so there is depth there.”

The A-League limits on overseas players mean if a signing were to be made for Auckland, it would have to be an Australian or New Zealander as the club have filled their import slots but Corica says recruitment is not just about players to be brought in for this season.

“We’re always looking for players for next season as well, the recruitment doesn’t happen in one day it takes time to make sure we get the right players. I think we’ve got a lot of players right this time round.”

Auckland FC play their final match of 2024 on Saturday at Go Media Stadium against Western United, kickoff 5pm.

Will Toogood is an online sports editor and golf reporter for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.