Socceroos captain Lucas Neill has been ruled out of Australia’s friendly with Ghana on Wednesday morning (AEST), while striker Tim Cahill will be sidelined for at least six weeks. 
Cahill was stretchered off during Everton’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on the weekend with a serious leg injury and will have an MRI on Tuesday (AEST) to confirm the extent of the damage.
“We’re keeping out fingers crossed that it’s good news for him but that would be a minimum six weeks,” Australian coach Graham Arnold said.
Arnold also confirmed that Neill would miss the clash with the Black Stars with a hamstring injury, while Craig Moore remains in doubt with a groin problem.
Michael Thwaites and Kasey Wehrman have been called up to the squad as replacements, with Michael Beauchamp on stand-by for Moore.
Thwaites, who plays for Polish side Wisla Krakow, has been unlucky not to feature more for the Socceroos recently after starring on debut against Jamaica last year, while Wehrman has been in good form for Norwegian side Lillestorm.
Arnold said he would discuss with the players who would replace Neill as captain when they all arrive in London.
While obviously disappointed with the injuries to his squad, Arnold said it gave him a chance to further build the depth in his squad as the team looks further ahead to next year’s Asian Cup Finals.
“The negative side is obviously the injuries to the main guys but at the same time the positive side is it’s a game against very good opposition and it’s going to test these new guys and see where we’re at,” Arnold said.
“This a great opportunity against a very good opposition to give the (Patrick) Kisnorbos, Ryan Griffiths, Brett Holman, (Shane) Steffanuto, Kasey Wehrman (a chance), and have a look at all those guys in camp and try to broaden the squad.”
“I’ve talked before about exposing more players to international football. I think the landscape has changed majorly for us in that moving into Asian now we’re playing a lot more meaningful games, where in the past we’ve used friendlies as meaningful games for the fact that we weren’t playing that many games before.”
Several players have flown into London ahead of the match, beginning their preparations with some light bike riding as they wait for the rest of the squad to join them after completing their respective weekend club matches.
Arnold said that even though Neill and Cahill would not be playing, there was no excuse for not getting a result against Ghana.
“I’m always looking for a positive result every time the Socceroos go out to play a game,” he said.
“The expectancy level now at home is always for a good performance and I expect no different. We’ve got to realise it’s not about three or four or five players it’s about the squad, the Socceroos, and I expect a good performance.”
Australian team:
Goalkeepers: Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, Turkey), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England). Defenders: Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England), Shane Stefanutto (Lillestrom, Norway), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Michael Thwaites (Wisla Krakow, Poland). Midfielders: Mark Bresciano (Palermo, Italy), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Josip Skoko (Wigan, England), Luke Wilkshire (FC Twente, Netherlands), Kasey Wehrman (Lillestorm, Norway). Strikers: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Brett Holman (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel), Scott McDonald (Motherwell, Scotland).
