Bailey Wright is set to make his Socceroos debut while Massimo Luongo will get his first start in Tuesday morning’s (AEST) friendly against Saudi Arabia in London.
Wright, who was an unused member of the World Cup squad, will get his chance in central defence as coach Ange Postecoglou continues to test the depth of the talent at his disposal.
Luongo made a brief cameo against Belgium last week but will be given a shot from the start against the Saudis, where Postecoglou has challenged his side to really impose themselves on their AFC rivals.
After a sobering 2-0 loss to heavyweights Belgium, Postecoglou expects improvement against the 83rd-ranked Saudis.
“We’re obviously going to have a different set of challenges for this game. We’re not silly enough to think it’s going to be easy but it’s going to be different,” Postecoglou told FFA TV.
See the full interview with Ange Postecoglou here
“From our perspective there will be some opportunities out there which we probably haven’t had in our previous series of games and that is to really impose ourselves on the game from a possession point of view and see if we can control and dictate the tempo.
“The other night Belgium started really quick and we really couldn’t slow them down. That was a good lesson for us that we want to be the team that really dictates the tempo the game’s played.
“That’s the opportunity that exists against Saudi Arabia and at the beginning when the battles on that we’re the ones that take over and control the game.”
See more Socceroo videos right here www.socceroos.com.au/videos