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Alessandro Circati in his debut for Australia.Credit:AP

“Tony Vidmar at the moment is getting quite a number of overseas-based clubs refusing to release players in April. I spoke to[Circati] and I think it’s one thing a lot of people need to understand:the pressure that kids get put under from their clubs overseas to[not] play for Australia is a lot.

“Alessandro and evenCristian Volpato,exactly the same. They just want to focus on their club careers at this moment in time. I do believe that Alessandro,especially,will play for Australia,and I do believe Cristian will want to play for Australia. It’s just at the moment,the timing is probably not right for them – especially with Alessandro;they’re going for promotion with Parma to get up in Serie A.”

Circati is eligible to play for Italy and is not yet locked in for Australia because he hasn’t played in a competitive fixture,having made his debutin a friendly last year against New Zealand in London.

Arnold steered the Olyroos – Australia’s under-23s men’s team – to qualification for the Tokyo Olympics for the first time since 2008,and then coached them to a win over Argentina and defeats to Spain and Egypt.

SOCCEROOS SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS AGAINST LEBANON

Goalkeepers:Maty Ryan (captain),Thomas Glover,Joe Gauci

Defenders:Harry Souttar,Kye Rowles,Cameron Burgess,Nathaniel Atkinson,Jordan Bos,Thomas Deng,Gethin Jones,Lewis Miller

Midfielders:Jackson Irvine,Keanu Baccus,Ajdin Hrustic,Craig Goodwin,Connor Metcalfe,Riley McGree,Patrick Yazbek

Forwards:Mitchell Duke,Adam Taggart,Kusini Yengi,John Iredale,Bruno Fornaroli,Brandon Borrello,Sam Silvera

While he has handed the reins of the team over to Vidmar,Arnold sees the Olyroos program as a crucial conduit to senior international football and the Olympics as a prized opportunity for young Australian players to showcase their abilities to scouts and clubs on the world stage.

The Socceroos will face Lebanon in Sydney next Thursday night and then again in Canberra the following Tuesday in what is nominally an ‘away’ fixture,relocated due to the tensions in the Middle East and the lack of availability of suitable venues in that country. Two wins will assure Australia’s spot in the next round of qualification for the 2026 World Cup,and would turn June’s fixtures against Bangladesh (away) and Palestine (home) into dead rubbers.

Arnold said he would “potentially” look to experiment with his squad in that event,having overlooked in-form A-League players Josh Nisbet and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos for this window.

Scotland-based midfielder Calem Nieuwenhof would have been picked were it not for a hamstring injury,Arnold confirmed,while there is a chance Lewis Miller – who conceded the last-gasp penalty which turned Australia’sAsian Cup quarter-final against South Korea last month – may have to withdraw after sustaining a hamstring strain while playing for Hibernian on Thursday morning (AEDT).

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