By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou made three changes to his side for Australia's second Group A clash against Oman on Tuesday at Stadium Australia, where the hosts will be looking to secure a place in the last eight of the Asian Cup.
Postecoglou was forced to make at least one change by an ankle injury his skipper Mile Jedinak sustained in the 4-1 victory over Kuwait in their opener in Melbourne last Friday.
Experienced forward Tim Cahill has been handed the captain's armband with Mark Milligan replacing Jedinak as the holding midfielder shielding the back four.
Postecoglou said he would have tinkered with his side in any case to keep the squad fresh and Matt McKay comes into the midfield in place of James Troisi, while Jason Davidson starts at left back instead of Aziz Behich.
Troisi scored Australia's fourth goal with an excellent finish in the dying minutes of the Kuwait match but had a patchy evening before that.
Oman lost their opener against South Korea 1-0 but coach Paul Le Guen kept faith with all but two of the starting line-up from that match in Canberra last Saturday.
Striker Amad Al Hosni and attacking midfielder Mohsin Al Khaldi come into the side with Mohammed Ali Siyabi and Qasim Said dropping to the bench.
Oman almost pulled off a huge upset the last time they faced Australia in Sydney in a World Cup qualifier two years ago, taking a two goal lead before the Socceroos fought back to force a 2-2 draw.
Abdulaziz al Maqbali, who scored Oman's opener that night, will again lead the line, while the side will be captained by Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi.
Australia - Mat Ryan; Ivan Franjic, Trent Sainsbury, Matthew Spiranovic, Jason Davidson; Mark Milligan, Matt McKay, Massimo Luongo, Matthew Leckie, Tim Cahill; Robbie Kruse.
Oman - Ali Al-Habsi; Abdul Sallam Al Mukhaini, Jaber Al-Owaisi, Mohammed Al-Musalami, Ali Al-Busaidi; Mohsin Al Khaldi, Ahmed Mubarak, Eid Al-Farsi; Raed Saleh, Amad Al Hosni, Abdulaziz Al-Maqbali.