Fiji plays New Zealand on Saturday at home before travelling to New Zealand for the away tie in Wellington three days later where Krishna will face a number of his Phoenix teammates.

But with Fiji fighting for the Oceania Football Confederation’s play-off spot,Krishna said mateship would be put on hold over the next seven days.

“It doesn’t matter that they are my teammates, to play for your country is a big honour,” Krishna told FourFourTwo.

“I’ll be a different man. I’ll be playing for my country, yes we are good mates but I’ve got  a job to do.”

Oceania is in its third stage of qualifying for the 2018 Russia World Cup with New Zealand, Fiji and New Caledonia in one group, and, Tahiti, Solomon Islands and PNG in the other.

The teams which top each group will play in the Oceania final with the winner progressing to the intercontinental play-off against the fifth-best South American nation later in 2017.

In their previous two fixtures, New Zealand had a 2-0 win over New Caledonia in Auckland, but in the return leg a few days later could only manage a scoreless draw.

And while Krishna respects the All Whites squad, the striker believes Fiji can claim crucial points in their upcoming home and away qualifiers.

“It’s our first game and for them it’s a do or die,” he said. “If they win then they’ve got a good chance of qualifying. We just have to do our job and I just can’t wait to play against a few of my mates.

“The All Whites are a good side but we have beaten them previously so it’s going to be great game and we will be playing against some great players who play in the English Premier League.

“They always have a good squad but on the pitch, it’s 11 vs 11 and hopefully we do well and get the three points.”

Fiji made history when they competed at Rio 2016 with Krishna scoring Fiji’s first ever goal at an Olympics.

The 29-year-old said the island nation was in good shape heading into the future.

“We’ve got new coaching staff and they have a good plan for the future of Fijian football which is great,” he said

 “I can see that we are in good hands. Now we just got to go out there and do a job, we’ve got a few older lads who are going around with the younger ones.”

Krishna also feels the Oceania region has untapped playing resources that are currently being ignored.

“We have the talent at home but scouts aren’t going to the pacific to have a look,” he said.

“But they should be going to do that since I’ve made my mark in the A-league. It’s not just Fiji but places like the Solomon Islands, Papa New Guinea and Samoa who also have hidden talent and hopefully scouts can go out there and look out for them.”