Interim All Whites coach Neil Emblen will consider applying for the job on a permanent basis if he is successful in next month's friendly against Japan.



Emblen, the All Whites assistant since 2012, was yesterday named coach for the March 5 clash in Tokyo, as New Zealand Football continue to review last year's failed World Cup campaign.



New chief executive Andy Martin starts work on Monday and the search for a permanent coach will commence once the review is completed.



"If you do well then maybe you're in a position to throw your hat in," said Emblen, the 42-year-old former pro who has also coached the New Zealand Olympic team and Waitakere United.



"I just want to keep on doing the best job I can and be as professional as I can so it gives me further opportunities, whether it be for the 17s, 20s, Olympic team or All Whites. One day I'd love to coach the All Whites, whether that be after another cycle or whenever."



Emblen named a youthful, attacking 18-man squad that is missing senior defenders Winston Reid and Tommy Smith, and stalwarts Tony Lochhead, Leo Bertos, Chris Killen, Rory Fallon and Jeremy Christie.



Goalkeeper Glen Moss will captain his country for the first time in the absence of Reid and Smith, while teenaged attackers Ryan Thomas (PEC Zwolle) and Tyler Boyd (Wellington Phoenix) are the uncapped players.



Michael Boxall, Tim Payne and Cameron Howieson are all recalled.



Emblen said discussions with Reid and Smith had reached the conclusion that both were better off remaining with their English clubs.



Reid missed November's World Cup qualifiers against Mexico with an ankle injury and has only just returned to action with West Ham United.



"We just felt it was the right thing for him, to just concentrate on keeping West Ham in the Premier League," Emblen said.



"I've spoken to him and he would love to come, but with the injury, I just think it's best that he keeps getting himself right for West Ham.



"Tommy's situation is slightly different ... he wants to basically put his club [Ipswich Town] first, for this occasion. We're not going to force the international ruling, that players have to come."



Emblen believed both players remained committed to the All Whites and would have made themselves available if it was a more important game.



He had spoken to Lochhead, Bertos, Killen, Fallon and Christie and told them it was not necessarily the end of their international careers.



"I've tried to communicate that across and they've all been really good about it. But this game, I'm going for a few boys that are in banging form now, that are playing regularly and are proving themselves at their clubs."



One such case is Thomas, the 19-year-old from Te Puke, who scored his first Dutch Eredivisie goal last week.



"Ryan's been a player I've admired since he was 14 and working with Declan Edge," Emblen said.



"He's just a really good young talent that's really clever on the ball, a diminutive player and he'll suit the international game, I'm sure. He's the type of player that will excite people, very much like Marco [Rojas]. When he's on the ball, things happen."



Emblen will have just two training sessions in Tokyo but said there was no thought of damage control against the world No 48 side, whose last two results have been a 3-2 away win over 11th-ranked Belgium and a 2-2 draw with ninth-ranked Netherlands.



"If you look at the squad we've got, I haven't gone to defend. I don't want to be gung-ho but we've got a lot of pace and technical players in the squad that will try to play the game in an entertaining and positive manner."

All Whites to play Japan: Glen Moss (c), Jacob Spoonley, Ben Sigmund, Bill Tuiloma, Storm Roux, Michael Boxall, Andrew Durante, Michael McGlinchey, Chris James, Ryan Thomas, Tim Payne, Cameron Howieson, Tyler Boyd, Shane Smeltz, Marco Rojas, Jeremy Brockie, Kosta Barbarouses, Chris Wood



