Soccer-New Zealand coach rues lack of cutting edge after Poland loss

Oct 10 (Reuters) - New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley was left ruing his World Cup-bound side's lack of cutting edge up front after a 1-0 loss to Poland in a friendly international in Chorzow on Thursday.

The All Whites carved out a few chances in the first half but were unable to take any and fell to a fourth successive defeat after conceding the only goal of the game to Poland skipper Piotr Zielinski three minutes after the break.

"It's tough to take, you know. I feel like I keep saying it ... there's a lot of good things from the game," Bazeley said.

"We do a lot of good things in and out of possession, and we have our moments (but) we have to be more clinical and ruthless, and we've got to start rewarding ourselves for some of the possession and play that we're producing now."

New Zealand's greatest scoring threat, Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, was kept on the bench until the 84th minute at the Silesian Stadium.

"We have to help him manage his loadings and make sure that he's 100% at all times so that we get him for the big games," Englishman Bazeley added.

New Zealand, who qualified for next year's World Cup finals in North America from Oceania, continue their quest for a first win over European opposition since 2010 as they take on Norway in Oslo on Tuesday.