Winger Martin Boyle feels responsible for Australia’s poor attacking performance against Bahrain

One of the Socceroos’ main attacking weapons has put his hand up for failing to deliver in Australia’s shoddy display against Bahrain.

Star winger Martin Boyle has taken responsibility for Australia’s poor attacking display against Bahrain and is desperate for the chance to make amends when the Socceroos meet Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday night.

The latest round of AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup got off to a horror start for the Australians, who were beaten 1-0 by the resolute Bahrainis at Robina Stadium.

An own goal from defender Harry Souttar decided the contest in the 89th minute, but it was at the other end of park where the Socceroos really struggled as they failed to penetrate the defensive wall expertly set up by the visitors.

The usually dangerous Boyle was among the culprits.

“I take responsibility myself,” the Hibernian attacking weapon said.

“I wasn’t creative enough, I wasn’t my normal self like I normally am lively, so we’ll have to rectify that, get back to the basics, try to get the one-on-one situations and create things.”

Boyle was among the later arrivals in Socceroos camp during the week, not landing in Queensland from Scotland until Tuesday night.

“I can’t use that as an excuse – I’ve done it before,” he said.

“We’ve got all the facilities here, all the recovery stuff … I’m just disappointed I couldn’t create anything.

“I’ll reflect on that and hopefully perform better on Tuesday. We all need to do better. Hopefully, we can get momentum and start winning games.”

Socceroo Martin Boyle (left) tries to get the better of Bahrain’s Abdulla Al-Khulasi at Robina Stadium. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Boyle was replaced in the 58th minute on Thursday night by teenage sensation Nestory Irankunda, who added some much-needed spark to Australia’s attack.

Whether to start the Bayern Munich young gun or use him off then bench had been a decision Socceroos coach Graham Arnold had been mulling over before the contest.

“(I wanted to) start this part of the campaign with a bit of experience,” Arnold said in explaining why Irankunda wasn’t in the starting team.

“You saw how Bahrain were very physical, so I thought that bringing him off the bench in the last 30 or 40 minutes would be better for Nestor.”

Irankunda will be in strong contention to start against Indonesia as part of an attack that will include a different starter in the centre-forward role after Kusini Yengi was sent off in the 77th minute of in Thursday night’s loss for a high boot that collected the throat of Bahraini defender Sayed Baqer.

Even if Yengi had not been suspended for Tuesday’s match, his ordinary performance before being shown a red card would have made it difficult for Arnold to select him.

Mitch Duke looms as the replacement for Yengi, with Perth Glory marksman Adam Taggart the other option.

In defence, Arnold must also decide whether to restore Parma defender Alessandro Circati to his rightful centre-back role or persist with playing him out of position at right-back.

“I played a new position that I’ve never played before and I gave everything that I had,” Circati said.

Originally published as Winger Martin Boyle feels responsible for Australia’s poor attacking performance against Bahrain