Coming off a brace in last month’s 7-1 thumping of Taiwan, the Hull City midfielder is unperturbed by Australia’s 3-2 head-to-head loss record against the Chivalrous going into Friday’s (AEDT) FIFA World Cup qualifier.
Beaten 2-1 in 2012 and 2-0 three years later by Jordan in their backyard, Australia also suffered a 1-0 loss against Vital Borkelmans’ men at the AFC Asian Cup in January to pile another skeleton in the closet.
But with Australia topping Group B after convincing performances against Kuwait, Nepal and Taiwan, Irvine is convinced they possess the resilience and craft to avoid another misadventure in the Middle East.
“Wherever you go it poses a different set of problems but we feel we are able to cope with these situations and have enough experience and depth to deal with these types of games (and get the result we want),” Irvine said.
“It would nice to come away with another win going into the next window in March.
“We’re aiming to be as convincing and ruthless as possible and if we can wrap up that qualification spot for the next phase (to Qatar 2022) as soon as possible, and do it in a bit of style as well, then all the better.
“We’ve been scoring a lot of goals (15 in three games) and winning is becoming a habit.
“We’ve got that mentality at the moment and it puts us in a great position going into any game.”
It can be argued that Australia have been feasting on easy pickings thus far and might be in for a rude awakening in front of a vocal and hostile King Abdullah II Stadium crowd.
But Irvine sees it differently, adding: “It can be a lose-lose situation sometimes in that you go out and win 7-1 (against Taiwan) and everyone says ‘oh well, it was because the opposition was poor’ and you can still be criticised for maybe not playing as well as you could have.
“Our last two games (Nepal and Taiwan) were against the two lowest ranked teams in the group but you still have to go out and do the job, and we did that.
“We are growing and getting better all the time and now, on paper at least, we’re up against the most difficult team in the group and we’re looking good with three wins from three.
“The coach has a headache with a lot of players in good form for their clubs and for us as a squad that’s fantastic to see.
“Players are fiercely fighting for those places - not just within the squad but in the starting team as well.”
