Nashville SC's Patrick Yazbek has been called up to replace Massimo Luongo after the Ipswich Town star was forced to withdraw from Australia's AFC World Cup qualifiers against China and Japan due to an ankle injury.
Luongo did not play in the Premier League club's 4-1 loss to West Ham United on Saturday and is joined on the sidelines by fellow midfielder Connor Metcalfe, who missed St. Pauli's 3-0 Bundesliga loss to Mainz due to a leg injury.
New Socceroos boss Tony Popovic has called up Yazbek and Macarthur FC veteran Luke Brattan as replacements for the qualifiers, which will be played in Adelaide on Thursday and Saitama on Oct. 15.
Luongo was called up to the squad on Friday for the first time since reversing his decision to retire from international football. The 32-year-old had been included in Popovic's first squad since the former defender replaced Graham Arnold as coach last month.
The meeting with China is a must-win for the Australians, who have one point from their opening two matches in the third phase of Asia's qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, having lost to Bahrain before drawing 0-0 with Indonesia.
"As a team like Australia, we come up against these teams that do sit off," Socceroos midfielder Riley McGree told reporters on Tuesday.
"Going forward ... we're going to have to find ways to break these teams down and avoid getting frustrated and find a way to win.
"We're all attacking players with quality and we all know, and have shown, that we can break teams down and score and assist.
"It's not up to any one individual. I think we're all capable of it and it's about on the day making that happen."
The Socceroos are fifth in Group C of the qualifiers, five points adrift of leaders Japan and three behind second-placed Saudi Arabia.
Only the first two finishers in the group are guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup, with teams in third and fourth in the six-nation standings progressing to a further round of qualifying.
"Pressure is a privilege, pressure is great," McGree said. "And if you can relish the pressure and you can use it to your advantage, then it can only result in good results.
"Pressure for me, on a personal level, is something that happens -- there's harder things in life than being a footballer and winning games."
McGree missed the past two Socceroos games because of injury while at his Championship club Middlesbrough. And the 25-year-old hoped his renown as an attacking midfielder could help turn the tide for the Socceroos under Popovic.
"Having Tony come in now, a new direction going forward is very exciting," McGree said. "I have played against teams that he's managed before, I have never played under him myself.
"But I think it's an exciting brand of football and one that everyone who I've spoken to has bought into and has loved to play."
Information from Reuters and AAP was used in this report.