Neill the latest casualty ahead of Ghana match

Socceroos incumbent captain Lucas Neill is the latest withdrawal from the match against Ghana, while there is also doubts over the fitness of former captain Craig Moore with a groin injury.

Socceroos incumbent captain Lucas Neill is the latest withdrawal from the match against Ghana, while there is also doubts over the fitness of former captain Craig Moore with a groin injury.

Arnold today confirmed that Neill (hamstring injury), Tim Cahill (knee) and Josip Skoko (hamstring) will all be missing from the Tuesday (Wednesday morning) match being played at Loftus Road in London. Scott McDonald pulled out last week, due to injury.

Norway-based midfielder Kasey Wehrman comes back into the national team fold after an absence of five years to replace Neill in the squad. He joins Michael Beauchamp, Michael Thwaite and Ryan Griffiths, as the new faces from the original squad

Arnold, while obviously disappointed that key players have been forced to withdraw, prefers to look at the positives and the fact that he can run the rule over a number of new faces.

“The negative side is obviously the injuries to the main guys but on the positive side it is a game against very good opposition which is going to test these new guys and see where we are at," said Arnold.

"This a great opportunity against quality opposition to give the likes of Patrick Kisnorbo, Ryan Griffiths, Brett Holman, Shane Stefanutto, Kasey Wehrman an opportunity. It also gives me a chance to have a look at all those guys in camp and hopefully broaden the depth in the squad. I've talked before about exposing more players to international football.”

Arnold will also use the match to bring in several young players to train with the squad that are contenders for the Qantas Under 23 team. Aaron Downes (Chesterfield), Trent McClenahan (Hereford United), Neil Kilkenny (Birmingham City), Nick Ward (QPR) and teenage attacker James Troisi (Newcastle United) will all train with the squad.

The current Qantas Socceroo squad is: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Michael Beauchamp (Nuremberg, Germany), Mark Bresciano (Palermo, Italy), Scott Chipperfield (Basel, Switzerland), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Ryan Griffiths (Rapid Bucharest, Romania), Brett Holman (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, Turkey), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England), Shane Stefanutto (SK Lillestrom, Norway), Mile Sterjovski (Basel, Switzerland), Michael Thwaite (Wisla Krakow, Poland), Kasey Wehrman (SK Lillestrom, Norway), Luke Wilkshire (FC Twente, Netherlands).

Australia v Ghana Tuesday 14 November, kick-off 7.45pm UK time (Wednesday 15 November, 6.45am AEDT) Loftus Rd, London

AUSTRALIA Shirt: Gold Shorts: Green Socks: Gold

GHANA Shirt: White Shorts: White Socks: White

Match Officials: Referee: Referee: Mark Clattenburg (England) Assistant Referees: Gavin Ward & James Linington (England) Fourth Official: Steve Bennett (England)

Television: Match telecast exclusively live on SBS TV from 6.30am AEDT (Check local guides for times)

Web: The Football Federation Australia will have regular live updates throughout the match - www.footballaustralia.com.au

FIFA RANKINGS Australia 37, Ghana 24

AUSTRALIA - GHANA: PREVIOUS CONFRONTATIONS 18-06-95 W 2-1 Friendly (Sydney) Scorers: T Vidmar 5- (Aus), G Arnold 37- (Aus); S Kumah 82- (Gha) 21-06-95 W 1-0 Friendly (Adelaide) Scorer: C Veart 19- 24-06-95 L 0-1 Friendly (Perth) Scorer: M Yahka 32- 14-09-96 W 2-0 Simba Cup (Durban) Scorers: D Mori 46-, P Trimboli 69- * Australia-s second match against Ghana (W1-0) featured the debut appearance for Australia-s Craig Moore who is the only current player to have previously played against Ghana. * Current coach Graham Arnold played against Ghana in the matches in Sydney and Perth.

FORM GUIDE

AUSTRALIA - matches played so far in 2006 22-02-06 W 3-1 v Bahrain (Asian Cup qualifier) Manama 25-05-06 W 1-0 v Greece (Friendly) Melbourne 04-06-06 D 1-1 v Netherlands (Friendly) Rotterdam 07-06-06 W 3-1 v Liechtenstein (Friendly) Ulm 12-06-06 W 3-1 v Japan (World Cup) Kaiserslautern 18-06-06 L 0-2 v Brazil (World Cup) Munich 22-06-06 D 2-2 v Croatia (World Cup) Stuttgart 26-06-06 L 0-1 v Italy (World Cup - round of 16) Kaiserslautern 16-08-06 W 2-0 v Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier) Sydney 06-09-06 L 0-2 v Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier) Kuwait City 07-10-06 D 1-1 v Paraguay (Friendly) Brisbane 11-10-06 W 2-0 v Bahrain (Asian Cup qualifier) Sydney * Australia-s all-time record against all African opponents in A internationals stands at W16-D3-L13 (34 matches). * Australia-s biggest-ever loss to any country was against an African side, a 8-0 loss to South Africa in 1955. * The last time Australia played against an African team was on 21 June 2005 when the Socceroos lost 0-2 to Tunisia in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.

GHANA - matches played so far in 2006 11-01-06 L 0-1 v Togo (Friendly) Monastir, Tunisia 15-01-06 L 0-2 v Tunisia (Friendly) Rades, Tunisia 23-01-06 L 0-1 v Nigeria (Africa Nations Cup) Port Said, Egypt 27-01-06 W 1-0 v Senegal (Africa Nations Cup) Port Said, Egypt 31-01-06 L 1-2 v Zimbabwe (Africa Nations Cup) Ismailia, Egypt 01-03-06 L 0-1 v Mexico (Friendly) San Francisco, USA 26-05-06 D 1-1 v Turkey (Friendly) Bochum, Germany 29-05-06 W 4-1 v Jamaica (Friendly) Leicester, England 04-06-06 W 3-1 v Korea Republic (Friendly) Edinburgh, Scotland 12-06-06 L 0-2 v Italy (World Cup) Hanover, Germany 17-06-06 W 2-0 v Czech Republic (World Cup) Cologne, Germany 22-06-06 W 2-1 v USA (World Cup) Nuremberg, Germany 27-06-06 L 0-3 v Brazil (World Cup - rnd of 16) Dortmund, Germany 15-08-06 W 2-0 v Togo (Friendly) London, England 04-10-06 W 1-0 v Japan (Friendly) Yokohama, Japan 08-10-06 W 3-1 v South Korea (Friendly) Seoul, South Korea * Ghana reached the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time in 2006. * Ghana was the only African nation (of five competing nations) to reach the second stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. * Ghana are playing host to the next African Nations Cup (2008).

ALOISI AIMING FOR OUTRIGHT SECOND

The next goal that John Aloisi scores for the Socceroos will make him the outright second highest all-time goalscorer for Australia in A international matches. Currently with 25 goals, Aloisi stands at equal second in the all-time goalscoring ranks with Atti Abonyi and current assistant coach John Kosmina. Leading the pack in all-time goals is Central Coast Mariners veteran striker Damian Mori with 29.

AUSTRALIA-S ALL-TIME LEADING GOALSCORERS in A internationals 29 Damian Mori (1992-2002) 25 Atti Abonyi (1967-1977) 25 JOHN ALOISI (1997-2006) 25 John Kosmina (1976-1988) 21 Archie Thompson (2001-2006)