New Zealand soccer coach Ricki Herbert will be wary of giving away too many secrets when the All Whites meet Jordan in a friendly in Amman on Thursday morning (NZT).
There are advantages to playing the All Whites' final warm-up in Middle Eastern conditions similar to what the team will face in the away leg of their World Cup play-off in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia on October 10.
But Herbert will be balancing those with the knowledge that New Zealand's opponents will be keen to shed some light on a team that may still hold a bit of mystery for them.
"There's always a consciousness that we are in their neck of the woods and no doubt people will be watching," Herbert said.
"So there will be some things that we keep under our hat until October, but certainly internally people will understand what we're doing and how we going to do it."
First priority for Herbert will be making sure he's answered all the questions around combinations and selections while bedding down a system to take to either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia regardless of which players fill the positions.
"Tactically we don't have a lot of time with just one game before the away leg so it's important the shape and organisation resembles what we're going to do in October.
"But there'll be some set plays and maybe some personnel reshuffles that will keep people guessing."
Newcomers Michael McGlinchey and Rory Fallon will make their New Zealand debuts after representing Scotland and England respectively at age-group level.
Fallon could play in front of an in-form Shane Smeltz in attack while McGlinchey could get his chance to impress in midfield.
Ryan Nelsen, who missed Blackburn's match against West Ham 10 days ago with an injured medial ligament, came through the squad's first two trainings unscathed and looks set to lead the side again after missing June's Confederations Cup with a calf tear.
Either Ivan Vicelich or Ben Sigmund are most likely to partner Nelsen, but given Herbert played Sigmund at right fullback for the Wellington Phoenix on Friday, he may consider playing the former Cantabrian there again despite Aaron Scott and David Mulligan being the frontrunners for that role.
Missing from Thursday morning's match will be assistant coach Brian Turner, who has flown from Amman to Riyadh to watch the second leg of a play-off between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain that determines who meets New Zealand in October and November for a place at next year's World Cup in South Africa.
The first leg in Manama ended in a 0-0 draw.
New Zealand's match against Jordan kicks off at 7am (NZT), 15 minutes before the match between their potential playoff opponents gets under way in Riyadh.
NZPA