Kruse pleased with preparations

A friendly match with the UAE had initially been planned but coach Holger Osieck scrapped it to allow the squad to focus exclusively on the Iraq fixture.

That decision may have been partially influenced by the loss to Jordan in the previous qualifier coming just days after a confidence-boosting victory over Lebanon in a warm-up match, but the single-minded approach this time around has been welcomed by the players.

Midfielder Robbie Kruse argues that the extra time focusing solely on training has allowed the side the chance to rectify some of the mistakes it made in the loss to Jordan.

"It's difficult, after the Lebanon game we played some good football but maybe it gives you a bit of a false sense of security there," he said.

"The conditions are really tough here and maybe we can monitor the players a bit better like this and we can work on shape more at training and play 11v11s because we've got the players here to do it.

"Training so far has been really intense and we've been working on stuff the boss wants us to do. Hopefully we can implement it in the next game; the last game we did a lot of stuff that wasn't in our game plan and wasn't what the boss wanted us to do so hopefully we can turn it around and get a result here."

As Kruse knows that is fast becoming the minimum standard with Iraq and Australia both stuck on two points with second-placed Jordan a further two clear.

"Most of the boys know the occasion if Jordan win against Oman in the other match, and that's a winnable game for them, so obviously it's going to be difficult.

"The conditions here are pretty tough as well, it's been really hot. Obviously we can't use that as an excuse and it's about going out and putting in a good performance."

The 24 year old has been one of Australia's most consistent performers since making his first starting appearance for the Socceroos against Scotland earlier this year.

He's also been a regular member as his club side Fortuna Dusseldorf has made a flying start to life in the Bundesliga, currently sitting seventh after as many matches.

"The Bundesliga's a great league and it's really tough so it puts me in good stead coming into the camps here as well with the national team," he said.

"With the Socceroos I went through a fairly long initiation phase where I think I had 18 caps before I got my first start. I've been in the squad for almost two years now and I feel firmly a part of it, I feel really comfortable when I come into camp and with the players.

"Obviously I've been lucky to get the chance to play on the right in the last 4 or 5 games and hopefully I've done enough to keep warranting selection in that position and hopefully we can get a win on Tuesday."

That would go a long way towards steadying the ship as the road to Rio starts to heat up.