Rising young Australian star Tom Rogic was on Thursday ruled out of next year's AFC Asian Cup with further surgery needed on a groin injury.
The Celtic attacker, 21, missed this year's FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil due to the ongoing injury and had set his sights on returning for the Asian Cup in Australia in January.
But his name was missing when coach Ange Postecoglou announced a 23-man squad on Thursday for next month's friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
"Tommy's had a little bit of a set back and I understand he's had to have another operation which will mean another lengthy absence," Postecoglou said.
"So that probably rules him out of Asian Cup calculation. He's still got a fair bit of work to do in rehab. It's disappointing for him obviously because he wants to get back playing."
Postecoglou said the national side had to have several options to survive the loss of any key players. "I certainly don't want to be in a position where we're relying on one or two players," he said.
"To be fair to Tommy he hasn't been in calculations for quite a while. We tried to get him up for the World Cup but he hasn't played in the Socceroos' last six or seven games. So I think the best thing for him now is his rehab and getting fit so he can start playing football again and when he does he'll be back on our radar."
Source: FIFA.com