Gold Coast United star striker Smeltz can help fire the All Whites to South Africa next year with the New Zealand sides just two games away from a World Cup berth.

But he must first face up to domestic duties against his old club Wellington Phoenix before he can start to think about his international responsibilities - and the same goes for his All Whites team-mates.

Gold Coast United entertain Wellington Phoenix on Friday and Phoenix centre back Ben Sigmund, one of the men charged with containing his former club colleague, is looking forward to the challenge.

"We'll need to keep a tight line and give him no room in behind us," said Sigmund. "But he's a funny chap, old Smeltzy. He pops up the silliest times and puts it in the back of the net.

"And we have to remember, it's not just about Shane Smeltz. Gold Coast have got Jason Culina, Joel Porter and a raft of other players who can hurt us if we're not careful."

Sigmund said neither he nor his Phoenix teammates in the New Zealand national team would be doing Smeltz any special favours at Skilled Stadium.

"Smeltzy's a hugely important guy for us as the All Whites but this match is about us as Phoenix getting three points," he said. "Smeltzy's Smeltzy, and I'm sure he'll kick me back just as hard if I kick him!"

Phoenix have suffered a bout of 'drawitis' this season and paid the price for failing to kill off opposing teams.

Tim Brown insists nobody at the club is dwelling on the past and the points that slipped away.

"You can sit around worrying about it or you can just get on with working hard and focusing on the next game," said Brown. "As a group we're doing the latter.

"We've had some really good performances and we know we're playing well, so we're not about to let frustration get the better of us. Things will come our way, no doubt."

The highly-touted Gold Coast have been stung by two losses on the trot and will be desperate to rebound at home.

Brown added: "I think it's a good time to be playing them, to be honest. They'll be hurting and there's a lot of hype around them.

"Teams are enjoying the opportunity to knock them off their perch. We're playing well, we've got good players and good depth, and hopefully we can really fire on Friday night and get three points."