Hibs defender Jack Iredale has been called up for the Socceroos for the double header against New Zealand.
The 29-year-old who was born in Greenock replaces Fran Karacic who has withdrawn for medical reasons, following Hajduk Split’s 2-2 draw with Rijeka.
He joins team mate Martin Boyle in the squad as well as former team mate Lewis Miller who joined Blackburn Rovers during the summer transfer window.
The CommBank Socceroos face New Zealand at GIO Stadium on Friday (7:45pm AEST kick-off), before the return leg in Auckland (September 9, 5pm AEST), for the Ashes decider.
Head coach Tony Popovic said: “We’re excited to be back together.
“It’s been three months since we had that wonderful June window where we qualified automatically, and the players have gone away, had their breaks, gone into pre-season, and we’re very excited to get the boys together and come up against an opponent in New Zealand, where there’s always a fierce rivalry.”
“I don’t really like that word, to be honest, ‘friendly’. When you play for the Socceroos, it’s an international, it’s a cap that you can get. And if you ask any of these young boys that could debut now whether it matters to them if it’s a friendly or not, I’m sure they say no.
“So we have to take this game very seriously. We’re excited that we’re playing New Zealand. We know how big that rivalry is in all our codes, so this should be no different.
“And also, congratulations to them. They’ve made the World Cup. So we’re playing a World Cup opponent.”
