Graham Arnold to rotate Socceroos squad for Uzbekistan match

Head coach Graham Arnold has confirmed a rotated squad will be used for Australia's final Asian Cup group stage match against Uzbekistan.

The rotation is in part to exercise the strength in depth within the squad, but also partly due to an injury to striker Mitch Duke.

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Arnold said: “I can be honest and say Mitchell Duke is out with a hamstring (injury), it'll be one game at a time for him.

“He had a bit of a scan and he's got a small strain, so he'll be out. So, it's an opportunity for me to have a look at other players as well against good opposition, a great test.

“There'll be a few changes, but I don't think there's much difference in the depth of our squad now, I think that if you make changes, the team will still be strong.”

In terms of the opponent, Uzbekistan are also unbeaten at the tournament so far having drawn with Syria and beating India. Arnold said it will be a tough challenge.

“We're going out there to win the game and obviously Uzbekistan are coming along a lot as a country, they invest a lot of money in football, and they're a good side, and we'll be ready for them on Tuesday,” he said.

“It's up to us to get out there with our mindset, our work rate and our commitment and culture that we've got and do a great job for all of us.”

Australia have had seven shots on target so far this tournament, six against India and one against Syria.

Arnold wants to see an improvement in that department but is also putting emphasis on defence.

“At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing and obviously we can do better in that department,” he said.

“We've been working on those type of things for the last two weeks, our attacking patterns and our attack, and we will focus a little bit more on the defensive side of things now.”

One way he feels the Socceroos can improve going forward is getting more numbers in the box on attacking plays.

“I think the most important thing is sometimes the individual quality of backing themselves and also the one v one situations,” he said.

When you look at the goals we’ve scored, it’s getting players in the box and having good numbers in the box to score goals and I think we've done that quite well.”

To finish, Arnold said he is proud of the two wins the team has got so far and wants to finish on top of the group with another win.

“Our goal right from the start was to top the group and with high expectations, if you don't reach for the stars, well, then you'll never achieve anything in life,” he said.

“It's a great tournament, I'm really excited about it and I'm very proud of the boys first two wins, but it's one game at a time and making sure that we get this one right.”

SUBWAY SOCCEROOS AFC ASIAN CUP QATAR 2023™ FIXTURES (GROUP B):

Every AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 match will be live on Paramount+