The All Whites will give midfielder Simon Elliott every chance to be a part of tomorrow night's World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Wellington.

Elliott has not trained fully with the team all week as he recovers from a hip injury and is considered only an outside chance of being ready to play.

Coach Ricki Herbert says they will make the decision as late as possible.

"We won't make any call around the side until after training tonight. We'll wait and see. It's a time factor for Simon and we need to make the right call. And we're prepared to give it the right amount of time."

Michael McGlinchey is poised to start in midfield if Elliott is unable to play. The former Celtic youth star was born in Wellington, but left New Zealand for Scotland when he was still a baby.

McGlinchey says he feels right at home ahead of the winners-take-all qualifier.

"The guys have made me feel really welcome and it's been great."

The All Whites complete their on-field preparations this evening with a closed training session at Westpac Stadium.

The qualifier is being compared to the biggest rugby event to occur in New Zealand this decade. Wellington Regional Stadium Trust CEO David Gray says preparations for this match are as big as they have ever been at the arena.

"We rate it, by comparison, with the Lions Tour in 2005. A lot of visitors from out of town, a lot of people that probably haven't been to the stadium before. And we just think it's going to be a huge weekend for the city."

MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt says temperatures are expected to be around 13 degrees when the game kicks off at eight o'clock. He says Northerly winds will increase during the day and this may result in challenging, swirling conditions.