Injured Jedinak ruled out of Oman clash
Sydney (AFP) - Australia captain Mile Jedinak will miss his country's Asian Cup clash with Oman after injuring an ankle during the 4-1 win over Kuwait, the team said on Sunday.
The Crystal Palace midfielder twisted his left ankle in the first half of Friday's opening game and was seen wearing a protective moonboot brace as he departed Melbourne the following day.
The loss of their talismanic skipper is a blow to Australia ahead of Tuesday's match in Sydney as they seek to qualify from Group A, but coach Ange Postecoglou said the Socceroos could cope with the loss.
"We've decided to rule Mile out of the Oman game after he copped an ankle injury against Kuwait," Postecoglou said in a statement.
"He's not quite right to play, and at this stage of the tournament we are better to give it a few days' extra rest and we will reassess where he's at for the game against Korea Republic."
While Australia can probably cope without Jedinak against Oman, beaten 1-0 by regional powerhouse South Korea on Saturday, Postecoglou will be anxious to have him back for the tougher challenges ahead.
"While it is not ideal for Mile to miss the game I'm confident we have the players and depth to be able to cover for not having him out there," said the coach.
"We worked hard on increasing our depth over the last six months leading into the Asian Cup and that has us in a good position to be able to cover for the loss of a player of Mile's calibre."
