Football: All Whites workload could have hurt Andrew Durante

Andrew Durante's All Whites training workload may have contributed to his injury. Photo / Photosport

A heavy workload to reach strict fitness levels with the All Whites may have contributed to an injury which could keep Andrew Durante out of next month's World Cup playoff.

The veteran defender has a torn adductor in his groin, with early indications that he may be out of action for up to three months.

That would not only see him miss the home and away intercontinental playoff against Peru, but also the first half of the A-League season with the Wellington Phoenix.

National coach Anthony Hudson has imposed a firm fitness regime this year, leaving regulars Clayton Lewis and Bill Tuiloma out of recent squads and sending Brisbane Roar defender Dane Ingham home ahead of New Zealand's Oceania playoff against the Solomon Islands for being out of shape.

Durante returned from June's Confederations Cup in Russia needing surgery on a sports hernia, which saw him miss a chunk of the Phoenix's pre-season campaign. He recovered in time to play both of New Zealand's matches against the Solomon Islands last month, but suffered this latest injury in the closing stages of Wellington's loss to Sydney FC on Sunday.

Durante's club coach Darije Kalezic chose his words carefully when asked about the injury and whether over-training may have been partly to blame.

"I cannot look in the kitchen of the All Whites because I was not there," said Kalezic.

"I can speak only about the 35-year-old player who struggled a lot last season with his health and couldn't play the last game because of issues - the same issues that he has today. A player who gets surgery after the Confederations Cup and who missed a big part of the pre-season. That's what I can talk about."

"(This injury) is to do with a lot of things - how he was going last season, how he was going after the season and after the [Confederations] Cup also - it all has a huge influence on what happens now."

There may be positive news for Durante, though. He visited a specialist in Auckland on Thursday, raising hopes of a revised - and much-shortened - recovery period.

"We don't know the real prognosis and how long he will be out," said Kalezic.

"Let's wait a couple of days and then we will know exactly how long it will take. I really hope Dura can play much sooner than the first prognosis. Let's look forward (instead of) behind. He always gives 100 percent for the club and I hope for Dura that he will come back very fast because he deserves that as a sportsman, a player and a captain."