Soccer: A million reasons for City to focus on Tahiti

Auckland City will add a maximum of three players to their squad as they chase a spot at the lucrative World Club Challenge in Japan in December.

City won the right to represent New Zealand at the Oceania club champs when they beat Waitakere United in last month's national league final.

With at least US$1 million (NZ$1.4m) up for grabs to the side that qualifies for Japan, and considering they'll spend $100,000 just getting to Tahiti, Auckland are treating the tournament as more than an end-of-season holiday.

It's for this reason Allan Jones and his assistant Craig Alexander want to add three new players - Napier's Chris McIvor along with a former All White defender and a midfielder playing in Scotland - to the 18-man squad to travel to Tahiti.

It's unlikely these three will remain with Auckland City after the tournament.

"It's certainly not a holiday and we have to put sentiment out of the equation because we have to have the best people to do the job," Alexander said.

"We have to go with the attitude that we're going to win it rather than just participating but we won't be bringing in any more than three players.

"We certainly cast the net both near and far and looked in both New Zealand and the UK."

McIvor is a left-sided midfielder who can also play up front and he finished with a return of eight goals from his 21 games for Napier this season. He will join the squad this week.

With skipper Jonathan Perry in doubt because of recent knee surgery, Jones and Alexander identified the need for bringing in an experienced defender and they're hopeful of sorting out a deal in the near future.

In the past, the tournament has drawn criticism because teams from island nations often stacked their clubs with international players, meaning they essentially fielded a national side.

This was part of the reason why Auckland will limit any new signings to three and they were also wary of bringing in 'superstars' who could upset the balance of the side they've been working with for the past 12 months.

The squad will assemble on Tuesday for their first training session since their win over Waitakere and they'll be put through their paces five days a week.

Only Brad Scott and Mike Gwyther have made themselves unavailable for Tahiti.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY