Socceroos star Harry Souttar could miss 12 months after hurting his knee in World Cup qualifier

A draw in Sydney on Thursday has been overshadowed by a serious injury to a Socceroos star.

Socceroos star Harry Souttar could miss 12 months with a knee injury. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Defenders Ryan McGowan and Bailey Wright have been added the Socceroos squad for Wednesday morning’s World Cup against China in Sharjah, replacing Andrew Nabbout and the injured Harry Souttar.

Stoke City defender Souttar is seeming set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury in Australia’s 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia on Thursday night at CommBank Stadium,

Souttar had scans in Sydney on Friday morning and is continuing to be assessed by the Socceroos’ medical staff, who are liaising with Stoke City.

Feeling the need for extra defensive cover in Souttar’s absence, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has recalled Kuwait SC’s McGowan and Sunderland’s Wright to his squad, with one attacking spot being sacrificed with the decision to leave Melbourne City forward Nabbout at home.

Souttar has emerged as one of Australian football’s brightest talents in the past 18 months and has been the subject of numerous transfer links to Premier League clubs while spearheading Stoke City’s hopes of promotion to the English top flight.

His burgeoning career may be halted momentarily, however, after he went down clutching the back of his knee late in the second half in Parramatta and was stretchered off.

The severity of the injury was apparent immediately and seemed to flatten the spirit of the Socceroos, as the Saudi’s piled on a string of chances in the wake of Souttar’s exit from the contest.

Harry Souttar is stretchered from the field. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

A visibly distraught Arnold didn’t want to speculate on the injury but is fearing the worst.

“It’s very serious. He’s in quite a lot of pain and he’s getting scanned first thing tomorrow morning but he won’t be coming to the UAE for the China game,” the Socceroos boss said.

“At this moment I’m really down and devastated for Harry. I believe he’s the best centre-back in Asia, and if it turns out to be a bad injury, it’s a blow for Harry and a big blow for us.“

Arnold also believes it had an impact on Australia’s lacklustre end to the contest, with Mat Ryan called upon to make a string of important saves and preserve their record of only having lost one World Cup qualifier on home soil in 40 years.

“It knocked the boys about. He’s such a great guy and seeing him carried off on a stretcher, mentally it had a bit of an effect on them. After that we were a bit sloppy for 10 minutes.”

Mathew Ryan checks on Souttar after his knee injury. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The draw keeps Australia’s automatic World Cup qualifying destiny in their own hands, as they maintained second place in the group behind Saudi Arabia but only just with Japan and Oman now afforded the chance to close the gap to one point with five games remaining in the final phase of qualifying.

“We’re in a great spot. It’s all in our hands. We’re in a great position rather than relying on other results. The most important thing now is to go play China and get three points and have a great Christmas,” Arnold said.

The clash with China is an away game on neutral turf in the UAE on Wednesday morning, Australian time.

The top two nations in the group qualify automatically for Qatar 2022, with the third placed team going through the playoffs.

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