to be ready for the friendly v Croatia on June 6 in Salvador.

• Forced to sit out the lacklustre 1-1 draw with South Africa on Monday night, in the Socceroos’ farewell game in front of more than 50,000 supporters at ANZ Stadium, the injured Jedinak insisted that his temporary watching brief had reconfirmed his faith in those around him.

  The 27 left in contention for a place in the final squad fly out of Sydney at lunchtime on Wednesday bound for Santiago, where a charter flight will take them from the Chilean capital onto Curitiba and then Vitoria in Brazil, the latter their east-cost base for the tournament.

  They leave behind a fresh sense of realism on home soil, after a second-string South African side briefly took the lead against Australia before hanging on for a draw rather too comfortably.

  Having consoled the three players cut from coach Ange Postecoglou’s squad ahead of their departure, Jedinak said the game had to be seen in the context of a progressive programme, with the squad attempting to learn at speed the game plan Postecoglou is trying to instil.

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  “They’re my teammates, we’re going over to Brazil together,” he said when asked if he had confidence in the squad. “I rate them very highly - the one thing with this time on the sidelines, it’s allowed me to take note of people on the field, and watch training.

  “The boys are working very hard, and you can see it means a lot to everybody. Not only with what we’re trying to do but to get themselves into great condition.

  “They want to do everything that’s asked of them and you could see that [against South Africa] - it’s heading in the right direction and very positive. You’ve seen over the last three games, that we’ve tried to implement a style that the boss has encouraged us to play.

  “Even against South Africa, it was a progression of that. We’re being challenged to do new Nike Mercurial Veloce AG things at training, and the reward is taking it out on the pitch in the games. Day by day it’s improving, and we’re demanding top, top quality.”

  The axing of Curtis Good, Adam Sarota and Josh Brillante was announced to the players late on Monday night, with Jedinak admitting the subsequent conversations had been difficult.

  “We had a brief chance to speak to all the boys - I’ve said what I had to say to them, and wished them all the best,” he said. “It’s not the easiest time, to see your teammates miss out.

  “But these guys have careers ahead Nike Mercurial Vapor X FG of them and you can’t praise them enough for how they’ve been in this camp.”

  Injured in Crystal Palace’s last game of the season, Jedinak said his groin complaint was responding to treatment and he hoped to be ready for the friendly v Croatia on June 6 in Salvador.

  “No doubt that’s what we’re aiming towards - you want game time before the first game in the tournament,” he said. “That’s what we’re aiming towards and we’re all confident it will happen.

  “I’ve got a little bit of time, I’ll make sure it’s 100% before I do anything with the boys - then it’ll be business as usual
  

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