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Red-hot Martin Boyle eager to bring form to Socceroos for World Cup qualifiers

Martin Boyle has headed into the Socceroos camp full of confidence after stellar Scottish club form.

Martin Boyle has headed into the Socceroos camp full of confidence after stellar Scottish club form. Photo: EPA

Socceroos winger Martin Boyle’s red-hot club form in Scotland has him flying high heading into Australia’s World Cup qualifiers against China and Vietnam.

Boyle has scored seven goals in nine appearances this season for Hibernian, including four from four in the Scottish Premiership to help the Edinburgh club to the top of the league.

It’s got the 28-year-old coming into camp with the Socceroos in Qatar full of confidence he can help fill the attacking void left by the absence of Mathew Leckie, who made himself unavailable due to Australia’s quarantine rules.

“Everything’s starting to click into place for myself. Starting to consistently get goals and assists, which is great and something that I’ve been looking to add to my game for such a long time,” Boyle said.

“It’s finally clicked into place and I’m in a real good place at the moment.

“We’ve started off the season really well, minus going out of the European competition, but on top of the league then qualifying for the quarter-final the cup back home, yeah, everything’s been positive.”

While Leckie is not part of the squad for the upcoming matches, Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy are both looking to make their first appearances for Australia since 2019.

Scottish-born Boyle debuted in Brisbane against South Korea alongside Celtic star Rogic in November 2018 but it’s the only time the two have played together.

“I don’t think I’ve played much game time with him which is a bit frustrating for me because you want to be playing with great players,” he said.

“Personally playing against him, he’s a nightmare, so it’s not too great but it’s finally good to link up with him here and hopefully we can have some game time together and show what we can do.”

With all 27 members of the squad having now arrived in Qatar and clearing COVID tests upon arrival, the team will have a light training run on Tuesday and a final session on Wednesday.

The opening match of Australia’s third round of qualifying is against China in Doha on Thursday (4am Friday AEST).

-AAP

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