Jedinak and Ryan back in the Socceroos’ squad

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Skipper Mile Jedinak and goalkeeper Mat Ryan have returned to Australia’s squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh, while Manchester City’s Luke Brattan and Adelaide United’s Tarek Elrich have been dropped.

Jedinak and Ryan missed Australia’s wins over Bangladesh and Tajikistan and the loss to Jordan due to injuries.

Jedinak returned to first-team action two weeks ago for Premier League side Crystal Palace, coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 loss to West Ham United.

Valencia goalkeeper Ryan, who has made just two appearances for the Spanish club so far, went under the knife in August and was sidelined for most of last month.

“Having Mile and Matty available again is a boost for the next two matches,” Socceroos manager Ange Postecoglou said in a statement.

“Mile has made his return from injury and as the skipper his presence will be a bonus for us while Mat will be back in full training by the time the window comes along next week.”

Postecoglou also handed Perth Glory defender Josh Risdon his first call-up to the national side due to the 23-year-old’s form for his club.

“Josh’s selection is a reward for his form with Perth Glory,” Postecoglou said.

“He has been on our radar for a while now, he’s started the season well so we’ll bring him to see how he fits into the environment in a position we have been open in suggesting we need to create more depth.”

Australia, who have a game in hand, are currently second in Group B, four points behind leaders Jordan and Postecoglou is confident his team can top their section as three of their final four matches are at home.

“We are still in a good position to progress to the next round of qualifiers at the top of the group,” Postecoglou said.

“We have three matches at home and nothing changes with the way we are approaching the next two games.

“We are in a better position now than we were 12 months ago in relation to the standard of competition our players have reached and the amount of game time and performances they are enjoying,” he added.

Australia welcome Kyrgyzstan on Nov. 12 and travel to face Bangladesh on Nov. 17.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)