Australia will be without star man Tim Cahill for their second Group D clash with Ghana following his sending off against Germany.
The Everton midfielder, who was used in attack by coach Pim Verbeek in their opener, misses out after seeing red during the Socceroos' 4-0 thrashing along with Vince Grella (knee), but Harry Kewell is fully fit for the first time and will be gunning for a place.
Ghana face major injury concerns ahead of Saturday's clash in Rustenburg, with defender Isaac Vorsah unlikely to recover in time, while his first-choice centre-back partner John Mensah is also struggling.
It means that coach Milovan Rajevac may have to field a completely different pairing in central defence, an area that was so key in helping them keep a clean sheet against Serbia in their opening World Cup game - a match they won 1-0.
But Rajevac is optimistic his team can cope with the Socceroos, who must win or face the possibility of an early exit.
He said on Friday: "Vorsah has not been training over the past seven days, we will see on Saturday, but I don't think he will be able to play.
"We will see how the situation is with Mensah, but we have other players who can replace them you know. We have enough players to come in and replace them."
Meanwhile, Verbeek insists he has had more difficult weeks with Australia during his two-and-a-half years in charge and is confident of a strong reaction from his players.
"I think we had more difficult weeks during our World Cup qualification, to be honest," the Socceroos coach said.
"The only thing we can do is win against Ghana. I expect a good reaction from the players and have confidence they will do everything to get the three points."
Source: PA
