Australia's Nishan Velupillay celebrates a goal during the Fifa World Cup qualifier against China. — AFP

Australia winger Nishan Velupillay has been ruled out of the World Cup qualifier against Bahrain on Tuesday after suffering an ankle injury against Saudi Arabia last week. Velupillay, who scored on his international debut against China last month, was injured soon after being substituted on at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in the 0-0 draw against the Saudis. Governing body Football Australia said there was no timeline set for the 23-year-old's return and did not announce a replacement in Tony Popovic's squad which travelled to Riffa.

Australia, who were upset 1-0 at home by Bahrain in September, are second in Group C at the halfway mark of the third phase of Asian qualifying, seven points behind runaway leaders Japan and one point ahead of fifth-placed Bahrain. Tony Popovic has taken over from Graham Arnold as head coach with improvement also seen on the pitch as they picked up five points from their last three matches, including Thursday’s goalless draw with Saudi Arabia.

Former Socceroo Popovic expects a big performance from his players. “It's important regardless of what happened against Saudi Arabia,” said Popovic. “We can do a lot better and we have work to do. We improved in the second half against Saudi Arabia. We know it's a huge game in Bahrain and we know we have to put in a much better performance than what we did in the first game when we lost to them.”

His counterpart Dragan Talajic will be aiming to mastermind another win against Australia, having only managed to take a point from their last two home matches. A goal in stoppage time secured a draw against Indonesia in October while China PR scored late on Thursday to take the win - two matches from which Talajic would have expected a larger share of points from. However, Bahrain are still very much in the running for an automatic spot in the Finals as they sit only a point behind Saudi Arabia, Australia and China PR, with Japan leading the standings with 13 points.

A win is imperative for the West Asians as they will only have one home match remaining after the Australian tie. The top two finishers in the group qualify directly for the 2026 finals in North America, while the third and fourth-placed teams advance to another round of qualifiers.

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