Socceroos recall attacking duo

Robbie Kruse Australia Asian Cup 2015
Fit-again attacking duo Tom Rogic and Robbie Kruse have earned a recall to the Socceroos squad for World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Tajikistan next month.

Rogic, 22, had not been selected for national team duty since being ruled out of the 2014 World Cup but has now done enough to convince head coach Ange Postecoglou he's worth picking, having returned to action for club side Celtic in recent weeks.

Kruse meanwhile gets the nod after recovering from the serious ankle injury he suffered in Australia's Asian Cup final victory over South Korea in January.

Among the other notable inclusions is goalkeeper Alex Cisak, who plays for Leyton Orient in League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and who has apparently benefitted from an injury to Stuttgart's Mitch Langerak.

Ryan McGowan, who stood in for the injured Ivan Franjic in Brazil last year but missed out on the Asian Cup squad, has been recalled after playing regularly for Dundee United.

His fellow Scottish Premiership player Jackson Irvine, who sealed a permanent transfer from Celtic to Ross County in the off-season, will hope to earn his first cap since being picked by caretaker Aurelio Vidmar in the 3-0 friendly win over Canada in October 2013, the Socceroos' first match since the dismissal of Holger Osieck.

Aaron Mooy, recently elevated to Australian marquee status at Melbourne City, will have another opportunity to impress Postecoglou, who has also called on Tommy Oar, despite the wide attacker being without a club since leaving Utrecht at the end of the previous campaign.

Australia, who began their bid to reach Russia in 2018 with a 2-1 win away to Kyrgyzstan in June, host Bangladesh in Perth on September 3 before facing Tajikistan away five days later.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Mathew Ryan (Valencia), Adam Federici (Bournemouth), Alex Cisak (Leyton Orient)

Defenders: Bailey Wright (Preston North End), Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Motors), Matthew Spiranovic (Hangzhou Greentown), Ryan McGowan (Dundee United), Tarek Elrich (Adelaide United), Jason Davidson (Huddersfield), Aziz Behich (Bursaspor)

Midfielders: Tom Rogic (Celtic), Aaron Mooy (Melbourne City), Mark Milligan (Bani Yas), Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar), Massimo Luongo (Queens Park Rangers), Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace), Jackson Irvine (Ross County)

Forwards: Tommy Oar (unattached), Mathew Leckie (Ingolstadt), Robbie Kruse (Bayer Leverkusen), Tomi Juric (Roda JC), Tim Cahill (Shanghai Shenhua), Nathan Burns (FC Tokyo)
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