Australia Bring Thomas Deng as Mark Milligan Replacement

Australia national team coach Graham Arnold has claimed that a defensive shuffle will be necessary after captain Mark Milligan picked up a minor leg injury. As a result, Australia have brought in Thomas Deng as a replacement. The changes are essential for Australia who are taking on Kuwait on Tuesday night.Deng is an extremely capable replacement considering that he is adept at playing across the back four. However, there is a disadvantage with regards to Milligan, who is also capable of playing in the midfield. Incidentally, Deng and Milligan played with each other at Melbourne Victory, while the latter has returned to Southend United in order to continue his recovery from injury.

Graham Arnold is of the opinion that fitness will be extremely important in this game, as it will be played in very hot conditions. The temperatures are likely to be in the high 30s. This is the case once again expected out of most World Cup 2022 matches. Even though the World Cup 2022 stadiums have been designed in such a way that they will provide cooling and the tournament will be held in December, it is still not expected to be enough. Arnold says that Milligan’s injury may have been minor, but the tough conditions for this game make it important to go with a fully fit player.

“We didn’t want to take any risks with Mark so we arranged for him to travel back to his club for ongoing care.Thomas was with us in October and November last year, and in June in Busan [the 1-0 friendly match loss to South Korea]. He has now arrived in Kuwait and will provide a great defensive option for our squad,” said Arnold. Australia have suffered back-to-back 1-0 defeat and the game against Kuwait is very important in this situation.