Hibernian star Martin Boyle called up for Socceroos friendlies

Graham Arnold’s search for depth continues with former Scotsman, several A-League stars in Socceroos’ latest squad.

Hibernian star Martin Boyle has been selected for the Socceroos. Photo: File

Graham Arnold’s search for depth in the lead up to the Asian Cup next year continues with the Socceroos coach naming an extended squad of 27 for the friendlies against South Korea and Lebanon later this month.

As revealed by The Australian this morning, Arnold has named a number of A-League players as part of the train on squad with Adelaide United attacker Craig Goodwin rightly rewarded for his stunning early season form with his inclusion along with Thomas Deng (Melbourne Victory), Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC) and Dimi Petratos (Newcastle Jets).

Scotsman Martin Boyle has also been named after he received his citizenship papers last week. Boyle plays for Hibernian in the Scottish premier league and was born in Aberdeen but his father was born in Sydney, making him eligible to play for Australia.

Attackers Andrew Nabbout and Jamie Maclaren, goalkeeper Maty Ryan and midfielder Aaron Mooy will also make a welcome return to the national team set-up after missing Arnold’s first game in charge against Kuwait last month through injury.

Australian striker Jamie Maclaren. Photo: AFP

Today’s selection means Arnold has now called up 39 players over the course of the past three months as he looks to give himself every chance of finding the best 23 players for the defence of the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

“We made some great progress in Turkey in September, as well as in the UAE and Kuwait last month,” Arnold said.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold. Photo: Getty Images

“However, this window will be exceptionally important for us as we have only had 15 days to work together as a team on the training pitch. In training, and in our friendlies against Korea Republic and Lebanon, we will be looking to introduce more players to the Socceroos system and reward a number of locally based players for their performances in the A-League and FFA Cup.

“With limited opportunities and matches to prepare for next year’s Asian Cup it is important that we make the most of every day that we have together, and by calling in additional train-on players from the A-League clubs this will ensure that more players are exposed to our style and standards as we edge towards the tournament.

“Several players who have been in and around the squad over the past 12 months, such as Andrew Nabbout and James Jeggo, will also be reintroduced to the group as we continue to add depth to the national team player pool.”

Tim Cahill will be added to the squad for the game against Lebanon at ANZ Stadium on November 20. Now retired from the international stage, he will play a token part at some stage of the match against the Lebanese as part of his farewell.

Socceroos squad

Mustafa Amini, Aziz Behich, Martin Boyle, Milos Degenek, Alex Gersbach, Jackson Irvine, James Jeggo, Tomi Juric, Matthew Jurman, Robbie Kruse, Mitchell Langerak (Gk), Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo, Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, Mark Milligan, Aaron Mooy, Andrew Nabbout, Josh Risdon, Tom Rogic, Mathew Ryan (Gk), Trent Sainsbury, Daniel Vukovic (Gk)

Train-on players

Thomas Deng, Craig Goodwin, Rhyan Grant, Dimitri Petratos