Despite growing pressure from young, uncapped players, Tony Popovic continues to use his reliable forwards for Australia's World Cup qualifying matches.

Seldom, if ever, does a nation's football squad consist of its top eleven players. They have 'favorites' among international managers, and for good cause.

They rarely stay with their teams for longer than a week, and frequently, particularly near the end of World Cup qualifying, there are too many games at stake to exchange a safe pair of hands for a debutant's sweaty palms.

Since taking over last September, Tony Popovic has selected four Socceroos squads, and while he has occasionally made unexpected selections, his favorites are now well-established, especially in attack.

Despite missing this window due to injury, Nishan Velupillay has been the biggest surprise and the most successful player in the first few months of Popovic's tenure. Despite inconsistent club performance, Mitch Duke and Adam Taggart have been in and near all of Popovic's starting lineups, and Martin Boyle, who recently concluded a superb season with Hibernian in Scotland, has rightfully been a constant on the right wing.

In round three of the Asian World Cup qualifying tournament, the Socceroos play Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Japan on Thursday. Australia has to maintain its present ranking of second in their group in order to automatically qualify for the event the following year. It would only take two draws, but if you lose either game, things become more challenging.

In the event that the Socceroos finish outside of the top two spots, they will advance to the fourth qualifying round, which may result in the dreaded qualification play-off. Popovic appears destined to rely on his attacking in-circle once more this week, which is both predictable and understandable. However, an exciting crop of uncapped forward talent, the likes of which Australian football hasn't seen in decades, is waiting in the wings (and growing impatient in them).