A 20-year-old Scotsman who grew up with Socceroos posters plastered to his bedroom wall could make his Australian debut in Canberra next week.
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Harry Souttar has been named in Graham Arnold's 23-strong squad for the Socceroos World Cup qualifiers against Nepal and Taiwan.
The Socceroos will begin to arrive in the capital from Monday, with Scotsman looking to make his international debut when they host Nepal at Canberra Stadium on Thursday.
Souttar, who has an Australian mother, represented Scotland at under-17 and under-19 levels but pledged his allegiance to the Socceroos earlier this year.
And Graham Arnold believes the nation will welcome the 198 centimetre giant with open arms.
"I think that the Australian fans will love Harry Souttar," Arnold told Fox Sports.
"The size of him is pretty scary straightaway but he's a very, very good footballer."
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The English-based defender is the only uncapped player in the squad, while midfielder Tom Rogic has been ruled out of a Canberra homecoming.
The 26-year-old made a goal-scoring return to Celtic's starting line-up but will miss the qualifier due to his impending wedding, in a move green-lighted by Arnold before the start of the season.
"Tom has come along a rehab program built by Celtic and communicated with our medical staff," Arnold said.
"It was a slow rehab to make sure he had no more issues moving forward.
"The communication I've had with Tom has been that the wouldn't be available for Kuwait and likely won't be available for these two games in this window."
Defender Bailey Wright will replace the injured Trent Sainsbury, being Arnold's only change for the upcoming fixtures.
Sainsbury has been placed on stand-by and replaced by Bristol City's Wright in the 23-man squad, which is otherwise the same as that named for last month's qualifying opener against Kuwait.
Captain Mark Milligan has been named having withdrawn before the 3-0 win over Kuwait due to injury.
Arnold said the performance in that comfortable victory in Kuwait City had enabled him to stick with the same group of players for next two qualifiers.
"Our group did very well in their first qualifier away from home, so I am pleased to be able to maintain significant consistency within the squad as we seek to build upon our strong start to qualifying for Qatar," Arnold said.
"Trent is managing a minor injury but remains on stand-by for the squad should we need to call him in.
"Bailey is a big part of our plans and a great player and person to have in the squad, so we are pleased that he will be with us this month."
Wright has made 23 appearances for the Socceroos and played a full 90 minutes in June's 1-0 friendly loss to South Korea.
But experienced European-based stars Mathew Ryan, Mathew Leckie and Aaron Mooy have all been included after playing crucial roles against Kuwait.
With the qualifiers coming either side of the opening weekend of the A-League season, champions Sydney FC will have to make do against Adelaide without fullback Rhyan Grant and goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne after they were both selected.
Striker Jamie Maclaren has also earned a call-up and will be unavailable for Melbourne City when they open their season against cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory on October 12.
Nepal were thrashed 7-0 by Kuwait in their group opener but rebounded to post a 2-0 win over Taiwan, who are bottom of the group having lost their first two matches.
- With AAP
SOCCEROOS WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Australia v Nepal: Thursday, October 10 at Canberra Stadium
