Martin Boyle has self-imposed himself as Australia's 'vibe manager' after the Hibernian star's World Cup dream was ended through injury.
Boyle was already facing a race to be fit to feature for Graham Arnold's side, who are matched in Group D with holders France, Denmark and Tunisia, having suffered a problem with his knee during a Scottish Premiership clash three weeks ago. He had been hopeful of completing his rehab in time but only managed light training in Qatar separate from the rest of the squad before it was confirmed on Sunday morning that the 29-year-old would have to withdraw from the squad despite the best efforts from the medical teams at Hibs and his national team.
The Scotland -born winger has been replaced in squad by Melbourne City's Marco Tilio - who was flown in on Tuesday in the event Boyle was unable to recover in time. And in a social media post Boyle admitted he was "gutted" at the blow but was remaining grateful that he is allowed to remain with the Socceroos camp as he attempts to play his part from the sidelines. He wrote: “Not really sure I can put this into words how gutted I am to withdraw from the World Cup squad. Gave it my all to be fit and it just wasn’t to be this time unfortunately!
