Mile a long shot in bid for Aussie cup games
THE chances of Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak appearing in decisive World Cup qualifiers against Honduras next month appear shot.
But as Ange Postecoglou prepares to name his squad in the coming days, the underfire national team coach would have been heartened by several performances from his Aussies abroad.
While Aaron Mooy was the pick of the bunch – the Huddersfield Town midfielder was named man of the match for his goalscoring role in his side’s 2-1 upset of Manchester United – other Socceroos starred.
Also in the Premier League, goalkeeper Mat Ryan kept a clean sheet in Brighton and Hove Albion’s stunning 3-0 win over West Ham.
In the Dutch Eredivisie, South Australian winger Craig Goodwin scored a late equaliser for Sparta Rotterdam in their 1-1 draw at Excelsior.
Milos Degenek (Yokohama F. Marinos), Robbie Kruse (VFL Bochum), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers) and Ryan McGowan (AlSharjah) all played 90 minutes.
And the push for Jackson Irvine to be promoted to Hull City’s starting XI grew stronger after a promising cameo in the Tigers’ 1-0 win at Barnsley.
Winning his first league minutes in almost a month, Irvine was lauded for his impact off the bench as Hull scored late to win.
But the continued absence of Jedinak, 33, from the Aston Villa teamsheet is a huge concern ahead of Australia’s trip to San Pedro Sula to play Honduras on November 11.
Ongoing groin troubles have kept him sidelined since September 12.