Jedinak demands quick fix after Thailand shock Australia

Mile Jedinak says Australia must recover quickly from their shock 2-2 draw with Thailand in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier.

The Aston Villa midfielder opened the scoring in Bangkok from the penalty spot, but the home side overturned that advantage thanks to two goals from Teerasil Dangda.

Jedinak levelled with a second spot-kick but the Socceroos were unable to fashion a winner, leaving them outside the automatic qualifying spots for Russia 2018 after five third-round matches, a point behind Saudi Arabia and Japan.

The 32-year-old feels his side were punished for a lack of ruthlessness against a Thailand team who had lost their previous four qualifiers while scoring only one goal, and has urged Australia to identify the problems in their play before matchday six.

“We need to assess what’s gone wrong here and try to rectify it quickly,” he told Fox Sports afterwards.

“We got into some really good positions. In the final third, we lacked that cutting edge, whether it be a pass or a shot, just to get them working. 

“I think we let them off the hook a few times and allowed them to get out of it a bit too easily.

“Saying that, they got into our box a couple of times and scored two. It’s a shame but that’s World Cup qualification.

“There’s still five games to go. We’ll analyse this and move forward. We have to.”

Australia, who are still unbeaten in Group B, face Iraq in their next match on March 23.