KEY POINTS:
The million-dollar dream will become just that for the loser of tonight's Oceania Champions League clash between Waitakere United and AS Mont Dore at West Auckland's Fred Taylor Park.
The New Caledonians lost 2-0 to Auckland City in Noumea while Waitakere were held 2-2 by City in their O-League opener, leaving Paul Marshall's Auckland side with four from a possible six points.
Waitakere coach Steve Cain is expecting a tough test for his players, who will have had just 48 hours to recover from Sunday's bruising 1-1 draw with Auckland City. He will also be forced to leave out some key players under registration rules. Michael White, Mikael Munday, Marcel Isakowitz and Daniel Ellensohn are out of contention, while captain Danny Hay will not play as part of Cain's rest-and-rotation policy for his key defender.
But Cain can play Hone Fowler, despite his sending off on Sunday, and is hopeful striker Daniel Koprivcic will have recovered from Sunday's battering to take his place.
"This promises to be a fair test. I know Mont Dore will be better prepared than when I saw them play Auckland City last month.
"They have a new coach and have had more match play than ahead of their first game. Technically they are very good and they are quite strong physically."
Cain has opted to play Michael Utting in goal, giving Simon Eaddy a richly deserved rest after some encouraging efforts in recent weeks.
With Hay sidelined, Rupesh Puna is likely to start alongside George Suri, who was impressive on Sunday, in central defence.
After some useful efforts of late, Allan Pearce was not as prominent at Kiwitea St. He has the chance to step up in a game vital to his team's chances of going through to the later rounds of the O-League race.
The switch from Trusts Stadium, booked for an athletics meeting, to Fred Taylor Park adds to the intrigue as the New Caledonians face the first of two games in four days.
Game Three
Fred Taylor Park, 6pm today. Referee: Rakesh Varman (Fiji).
Waitakere United (likely): Michael Utting, Jason Rowley, Hone Fowler, George Suri, Rupesh Puna, Jeff Campbell, Allan Pearce, Hoani Edwards, Jakub Sinkora, Commons Menapi, Daniel Koprivcic.
Subs: Simon Eaddy, Craig Wylie, Sam Jasper, Graham Pearce, Stuart Hogg, Pedro Santos, Prince Quansah.
