Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has backed Ryan Nelsen's decision to withdraw from the New Zealand squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Vanuatu.

The Rovers captain has opted to stay in England as his wife is due to give birth to their first child.

Hughes said: "That's his priority now. We expect Ryan to be a father very, very soon, so that's the reason why he'll not be linking up with New Zealand.

"In fairness, the travel arrangements he was facing would have involved 57 hours on a plane if you count up all the trips he was having to take.

"Given his recent hamstring problems, sitting on a place for 57 hours wouldn't have been conducive for putting in a good performance for New Zealand anyway, so the right decision has been made."