Australia will be boosted by the return of their captain Mile Jedinak and keeper Mat Ryan for their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan next month.
Both Jedinak and Ryan have been out since the first World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan, and will likely come back for the return fixture to be played in Caberra on 12 November.
The team will then travel to Bangladesh, where they will play on 17 November in Dhaka.
The Socceroos’ last outing was against Jordan away, where they went down; their only loss of the campaign so far. That sees them in second spot in their group, with four wins and three losses.
Kyrgyzstan are one spot behind them, while Bangladesh are last in the group, with no wins and only one draw from five matches.
The inclusion of crucial players Jedinak and Ryan comes along with uncapped defender Josh Risdon. Eugene Galekovic, midfielder Luke Brattan and defender Tarek Elrich have been omitted from the squad.
Coach Ange Postecoglou said it was a timely boost for the squad.
“Having Mile and Matty available again is a boost for the next two matches,” Postecoglou said.
“Mile has made his return from injury and as the skipper his presence will be a bonus for us while Mat will be back in full training by the time the window comes along next week.
“Josh’s selection is a reward for his form with Perth Glory. He has been on our radar for a while now, he’s started the season well so we’ll bring him to see how he fits into the environment in a position we have been open in suggesting we need to create more depth.
“While the performance and result in Jordan were not what we hoped for we are still in a good position to progress to the next round of qualifiers at the top of the group.
“We have three matches at home and nothing changes with the way we are approaching the next two games.
“We are in a better position now than we were 12 months ago in relation to the standard of competition our players have reached and the amount of game time and performances they are enjoying.
“Guys like Matty Leckie, Massimo Luongo, Tomi Juric and Mat Ryan have stepped up to bigger leagues and are better for the experience, which should translate into improved performances for the National Team.
“We also had guys like Nathan Burns, Jason Davidson, Ryan McGowan, Mark Milligan, Tommy Oar, Matt Spiranovic and James Troisi make moves that has seen them play regular football as well as Tommy Rogic who is now playing regularly for Celtic.
“We have a group of players in form and playing consistently, which is important as we look to the matches against Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh.”
Socceroos squad for 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers v Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh
| Name | Club, Country | A International Caps (Goals) |
| Nathan Burns | FC Tokyo, Japan | 16 (1) |
| Tim Cahill | Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC, China PR | 86 (41) |
| Alex Cisak (gk) | Leyton Orient FC, England | 0 (0) |
| Jason Davidson | Huddersfield Town AFC,England | 21 (1) |
| Adam Federici (gk) | AFC Bournemouth, England | 13 (0) |
| Mile Jedinak | Crystal Palace, England | 59 (9) |
| Tomi Juric | Roda JC Kerkrade, Netherlands | 14 (2) |
| Mathew Leckie | FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany | 28 (2) |
| Massimo Luongo | Queens Park Rangers FC, England | 15 (2) |
| Ryan McGowan | Dundee United, Scotland | 13 (0) |
| Matt McKay | Brisbane Roar, Australia | 57 (2) |
| James Meredith | Bradford City A.F.C. , England | 0 (0) |
| Mark Milligan | Baniyas SC, United Arab Emirates | 43 (4) |
| Aaron Mooy | Melbourne City FC, Australia | 9 (4) |
| Tommy Oar | Ipswich Town FC, England | 27 (2) |
| Josh Risdon | Perth Glory, Australia | 0 (0) |
| Tom Rogic | Celtic FC, Scotland | 12 (2) |
| Mat Ryan (gk) | Valencia CF, Spain | 21 (0) |
| Trent Sainsbury | P.E.C. Zwolle, Netherlands | 11 (1) |
| Matt Spiranovic | Hangzhou Greentown FC, China PR | 30 (0) |
| James Troisi | Al Ittihad FC, Saudi Arabia | 24 (4) |
| Alex Wilkinson | Jeonbuk Hyundai FC,Korea Republic | 15 (0) |
| Bailey Wright | Preston North End, England | 6 (1) |
FIFA World Cup Qualification: AFC Second Round – Standings
| Group B | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| Jordan | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | +11 | 13 |
| Australia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 9 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 8 |
| Tajikistan | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 2 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 15 | -13 | 1 |
Fadida
Guest
You've opened the biggest can of worms there Bondy!
Bondy
Guest
Only 6 of the 23 man squad have never played HAL football not bad ...
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
Not too bad this time of the year ... should be starting to warm up a bit now. The Canberra Stadium is a little out of the way from town, but you can visit the AIS whilst out there. Good place for a weekend trip (esp. from Sydney).
Fadida
Guest
Thanks for saving me the virtual ink
Fadida
Guest
Agree on Sainsbury
marcel
Guest
Caberra sounds like an interesting place to visit.
BES
Guest
..."Australia will be boosted by the return of their captain Mile Jedinak..." How???? No they wont. Wrong. Incorrect and incomprehensible. Just when we were making progress too..... Sigh....
Freycinet1803
Roar Rookie
Congratulations to Josh Risdon on the call up ... I think he is a good chance of at least getting one game. A local lad too so even better. Be interesting to see the back four for the first game. Davidson I just don't rate good enough for the Socceroos ... but not sure there is any quick fix to that. Be good to see Meredith get a run, and think Sainsbury surely has to start (by far our best centre half).