Young Socceroos in scoreless draw

In hot and overcast conditions in Pekanbaru, Indonesia, Australia had to settle for a 0-0 draw as Okon made several changes for the team's third match in its qualifying campaign.

With a grueling schedule of five matches in 11 days, Okon's cause hasn't been helped with skipper Terry Antonis controversially sent off just before half-time. Okon admitted he had been frustrated by a lack of ambition from the opposition side.

"As expected again we came up against a team that only had the intention to sit deep and limit any possible scoring opportunities from us," said Okon.

"On a bumpy pitch it was difficult to play the type of football we wanted to and it was disappointing to lose Terry Antonis which made the task even harder.

"We now turn our attention to the next match, our goal coming here was to qualify for the finals of this competition and we are working hard to achieve that."

Australia's campaign continues against Timor Leste on Thursday before the final game against Japan on Sunday.

Elsewhere in the group, Indonesia beat Macau 2-1 and Japan edged Timor Leste 1-0.

The results mean Australia is second behind Japan after three matches and one point ahead of third-placed Indonesia. The top two teams in the group qualify for the January 2014 AFC Under-22 Asian Cup.

The best-performed third-placed team from all groups will also qualify for the tournament.