The Socceroos face an anxious wait to see how several first team players recover from injury ahead of their final Asian Cup Group C clash against Bahrain.
Jason Culina (knee), Luke Wilkshire (groin) and David Carney (shoulder) were all hurt in Australia’s 1-1 draw with South Korea on Friday, with the trio now in doubt for the game at Al Sadd Stadium.
The Socceroos need only a point against Bahrain on Tuesday (early Wed AEDT) to seal a passage through to the quarter finals and coach Holger Osieck could have to unsettle the squad with several changes if players are ruled out.
Team doctor Mark Jones was giving little away about the injured men, saying they attended the team’s recovery session on Saturday morning and would be assessed in the coming days.
“They’ve pulled up reasonable so we’ll just see how they are,” Jones said.
“With the guys who have had injuries in the past, often those can settle down within a day or two, and a knock can often settle as well, so it’s just a day-by-day situation.”
Culina was substituted at halftime due to pain from a knee problem that has plagued him throughout the A-League season.
Wilkshire also went off in the second half due to swelling from a groin knock picked up before halftime, while Carney appeared to pop a shoulder late in the match.
Mile Jedinak, who scored the equalising goal against Korea, was optimistic his teammates had a chance to recover in time.
“They seem to be all right, happy with everything. Once they are assessed properly we will see how they pull up, but at this stage it’s looking good,” he said.
Australia remain top of Group C on goal difference and are still some chance of finishing top of their group.
That is likely to be decided on goal difference, with South Korea expected to post a big win over India in their last group game.
Finishing second in the group would likely mean a quarter-final showdown with Iran, who look a strong chance to top Group D after a 1-0 win over North Korea.
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