Bresciano ready to get back in the firing line

The forgotten man from the Iraq loss last weekend - Mark Bresciano - is keen to jump straight back into the firing line and help Australia get through to the next phase of qualifiers on Saturday night against Qatar.

Dubai: The forgotten man from the Iraq loss last weekend - Mark Bresciano - is keen to jump straight back into the firing line and help Australia get through to the next phase of qualifiers on Saturday night against Qatar.

Bresciano, who admitted he wasn-t in the greatest of form coming into these qualifiers, but felt he did well in the first match in Brisbane, was relegated to the subs bench, with Pim Verbeek taking a more conservative approach for the first game here in the Middle East.

Bresciano did not even see game time from the bench, with Verbeek preferring the likes of Brett Holman, Josh Kennedy and Scott McDonald to try and get the equaliser, after Iraq had taken a first half.

While frustrated with not seeing any game time, the Palermo midfielder is ready to play his part in Saturday-s top of the table clash that will almost see Australia qualify for the next phase with a win over the Qatari-s in Doha.

“Very frustrated, but that-s normal,” he said when asked about not getting a run against Iraq last Saturday. “For any footballer that gets left out; sits on the bench and doesn-t get a run, that-s just part of the game and I have to get on with it and get ready for the next game.

Given the taxing conditions of last week-s game and the effects it has on some players, his freshness is possibly something in his favour, although he believes all the players are almost fully acclimatised to these weather conditions now.

“I hope so; I hope I get a chance to start,” he said. “Although in these conditions I don-t know how fresh you can be, with the heat and training every day and playing; it-s not easy for us.

“I think we have acclimatised; not to the maximum, but a lot better than the start. I remember the first couple of sessions were very hard for us, but now the sessions are getting easier and we are getting used to this heat.

“We are getting more games in these conditions; last year with the Asia Cup and now coming here; we are getting used to these conditions and we are getting used to the style of the way we have to play in these conditions.

“We would like to play a different style, but in these conditions you can-t; slowly, slowly we are getting used to everything.”

Bresciano knows this Saturday-s match will offer a very different proposition to that of the first game against Qatar, where Australia scored three first half goals in a very dominant performance in Melbourne.

“It was the first game of the group stage and we did win pretty comfortably, but since then they have done extremely well; they have won two games and drawn a game, so they are equal points with us.

“I think they had some players missing, so maybe that-s why it was an easy game for us in Melbourne. They have got their whole team and that-s why it-s going to be much harder for us this time.

“(It-s) very important for both teams; it-s going to be interesting to see the way that Qatar are going to come out and play. I think we are going to go back to our normal formation and not too defensive and will try and kill it off on Saturday and hopefully get a win.”

Saturday-s match against Qatar in Doha can be seen live from 2.00am (AEST) on Fox Sports 3. There will also be a Live Match Update of the game right here on www.footballaustralia.com.au from around 1.45pm, with all the latest team news and a full text commentary.