Reid ready to return

Winston Reid will return to action with New Zealand on Saturday looking to get some valuable playing time under his belt.

The 23-year-old defender has been frustrated by injury and illness over the last month which has hampered his progress under Avram Grant. Reid was involved in the first two matches of the season for the Hammers but has had to wait for another chance.

He was impressive for the reserves last week in the 2-0 home win against Wigan Athletic, although a dead leg just before half-time led to his substitution and then cost him the chance of being involved against Fulham.

As such, the All Whites match in Auckland against Honduras, which takes place at 7.30am UK time, will be important to his hopes of building up his form and fitness - as well as proving his Kiwi commitment.

Reid first shot to global prominence with his strong displays for his country at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and wants to build on that with the weekend game and then Tuesday's friendly in Wellington with Paraguay, who they also played in South Africa last summer.

"We'll go into those games aiming to be competitive and to get a result," he said.

"Hopefully we can just continue to improve what we did at the World Cup, to build on what we did as a team and as a nation."