Experienced Caltex Socceroos defender Trent Sainsbury has heaped praise on his less-seasoned international team-mates ahead of game two of Australia's World Cup playoff against Syria.
And he's reserved particular platitudes for fellow central defender Matt Jurman, who debuted in Malaysia.
“When you've got a guy like Matt Jurman coming in for his first cap, he was outstanding,” Sainsbury told Fox Sports' Sunday Shootout.
“I didn't have to tell him one thing during the game, I didn't have to scream at him or anything - he's a top professional.
“You've got Aziz Behich coming back into the squad, he was fantastic.
“Milos [Degenek] has set that place for himself in the squad now and you'd almost call him a regular.
“I thought Josh Risdon was fantastic as well. The back five in general were outstanding with Maty Ryan behind us having a blinder as well,” said Sainsbury.
Syria brought physicality to Thursday night's first encounter, with the contest often descending into a war of attrition.
But Sainsbury says that's exactly what they expected.
“There's a lot on the line. They were very physical [with] a few rash challenges,” said Sainsbury.
“We expected that, we watched a lot of video on them and were prepared for that and were prepared to match them in every tackle.
“Our philosophy is going to stay the same and I don't think the Syrians are going to change at all. There'll be a lot more long balls if anything from them.
“It's still going to be a very physical game but we just have to continue our way and continue the process and keep moving forward.”
With the tie delicately poised at 1-1 ahead of tomorrow night's second leg in Sydney, Sainsbury insisted Australia's approach wouldn't change.
“We've got a nice pitch to play on so we're going to try to pop the ball about quite a lot and get them moving,” he said.
“I can't give away all the tactics, but [we'll play] a very high tempo game to get them moving about and get them tired.
“I can't see them staying with us for the full 90.”