Rogic, Kruse back for Australia

Fit-again attacking duo Tom Rogic and Robbie Kruse have earned a recall to the Australia squad for World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Tajikistan in September.

Rogic 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 is worth picking, having returned to action for club side Celtic in recent weeks.

Kruse 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 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 following the dismissal of Holger Osieck.

Aaron Mooy, recently elevated to 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: Alex Cisak (Leyton Orient), Adam Federici (Bournemouth), Mathew Ryan (Valencia)

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

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

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