NZ Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has allayed fears over the fitness of halfback Jahrome Hughes, who faces another injury-enforced absence at the Rugby League World Cup this weekend.
Hughes, 28, was scratched from the Kiwis' side for their World Cup opener with a thigh strain, and hasn't recovered in time to face Jamaica on Sunday.
Kieran Foran will partner Dylan Brown in the halves in Hughes' absence, as the Kiwis look to book their spot in the next round.
Hughes battled more than one injury concern for Melbourne Storm during the NRL season, with separate shoulder and calf issues - but Maguire assures there is no link to his playmaker's fitness race in the UK.
In fact, Maguire outlines Hughes could be playing on Sunday, if the game held more weight than a pool match.
"He should be right for next week," Maguire assured. "He's really close, but just where he had that slight strain, we wanted to take one more week and make sure that he's right.
"He should be 100 percent for next week. It's a real minor one.
"We have a good medical staff over here, obviously there's a big picture of what we're looking at.
"If it was the biggest game that we're playing this week, he'd get away with it.
"But we need to be smart about where we're going and what we're wanting to achieve over here.
"He'll be fine."
Maguire has also put the Kiwis on notice, after their struggles in the 34-12 opening victory over Lebanon on Monday.
The second-tier nation matched the tournament contenders blow for blow, until Joseph Manu's second-half display saw New Zealand clear.
And with those lessons on board, Maguire says the Kiwis won't fall into the same mistakes when they take the field at Hull's MKM Stadium.
"There are areas in our game last week where we didn't hit the ground running as fast as we'd have liked," he continued.
"We've got to make sure we do that against Jamaica, [and] make a bit of a statement about how we're playing.
"It's [about] respecting the opposition and who you play every single time. You're playing for your country - every team's going to have the passion.
"You've got to make sure you're above and beyond everyone else that you're playing. That's an area that the boys have within themselves to show everyone back home what type of team we are."
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