Mitchell Duke may have been the last Caltex Socceroo to learn about his call-up but the striker is raring to hit the ground running in the Middle East.
Duke was a late selection by head coach Graham Arnold as a replacement for injured Cyprus-based forward Apostolos Giannou.
But the five-cap international is champing at the bit as Australia’s preparations to face Jordan on Friday, 15 November AEDT ramp up on Tuesday.
The Western Sydney Wanderers captain has started the 2019/20 campaign in flying form, scoring four goals in five games to fire his Hyundai A-League side to third in the ladder.
The 28-year-old joins the K-League’s joint leading goalscorer Adam Taggart, Awer Mabil and Matthew Leckie among the attacking options in Arnold’s squad.
The Caltex Socceroos have delivered three straight wins in FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying Round 2 Group B, and Duke revealed the group cannot wait to begin the search for number four.
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“The boys are excited,” said Duke.
“Not everyone is here in camp yet, we all will be by the end of [Monday].
“We start our full preparations [on Tuesday] and we’re looking forward to it.
“There’s a few fresh faces here so once we all come in, we will all gel together on the training pitch and get those combinations going.
“We’ll make sure we all understand our jobs and go out there and, if we play to our ability, we think we’ll be able to get the job done.
“We’ve had a few good games recently in our previous camps against Nepal, Chinese Taipei, so we’ll be high on confidence.”
Australia’s match against Jordan will be broadcast live in Australia on FOX SPORTS, ABC TV, Kayo Sports, and via the My Football Live App, Live, Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers.
Next Match – Caltex Socceroos – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ – Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2
Jordan v Australia
Date: Thursday, 14 November 2019
Venue: King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan
Kick-off: 6.00pm (local); 3.00am AEDT – Friday, 15 November 2019
Broadcast: Live in Australia on FOX SPORTS, ABC TV, Kayo Sports, and via the My Football Live App, Live, Fast and Data Free for Telstra mobile customers
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