Burnt by bitter experience at the World Cup, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou will change his side and make Tim Cahill captain for Australia's second Asian Cup match against Oman on Tuesday.
Postecoglou said on Monday he planned to make at least a couple of changes to the team that thumped Kuwait 4-1 in Friday's tournament opener in Melbourne.
One change will be forced because captain and midfield dynamo Mile Jedinak is sidelined by an ankle injury, leaving striker Cahill to lead his country for the second time.
"It's a great responsibility that I will make sure I deliver in the right way," Cahill said.
With three matches in nine days, Postecoglou is determined to keep his players fresh after their experiences at last year's World Cup, where the team was clearly fatigued by their final group game against Spain.
"We've learnt pretty clearly at the World Cup, by the third game against Spain we were pretty spent as a group because we relied on a core group of players," Postecoglou said.
"Not just for those games, but in the leadup.
"We don't want to fall into the same trap. We want to do well in all three games and tomorrow night is a very, very important game for us.
"We do want to make sure the guys we put out there can maintain the sort of tempo and intensity we had in the first game."
He said he had two or three options to replace Jedinak in midfield and, while he didn't nominate anyone, Mark Milligan and Mark Bresciano would appear to be candidates.
Postecoglou suggested the area he was least likely to change was the defence.
"The amount of work the three midfielders got through and the three forwards got through on Friday night, we're going to have to freshen it up," Postecoglou said.
Up front, the likes of Nathan Burns and Tomi Juric, both of whom came off the bench against Kuwait, could start against Oman.
A win on Tuesday would guarantee Australia a place in the quarter-finals before Saturday's final group game against South Korea, who beat Oman 1-0 in the other opening round fixture.
"I don't think (a win over Oman) is about taking pressure off: we just want to keep the momentum going," Postecoglou said.
"We were pleased with the way things went Friday night in terms of the performance, but we still think we can improve and that's what we'll be looking for tomorrow night."
While Australia have lost just once in seven games to Oman, they haven't won any of the three most recent tussles.
"They are always a tough opponent for us and we're expecting no different tomorrow night," Postecoglou said.
"They fought very hard (against South Korea), they got a lot of people behind then ball and in transition they looked dangerous, so we're going to have to be on high alert for that sort of stuff.
"We might have to be patient if things aren't going smoothly early."
However, Postecoglou stressed he was quite happy for his team to keep attacking and win a high-scoring contest rather than just defend a lead and close down the game.
He said tests had revealed no major damage to Jedinak's left ankle, but he couldn't be sure the key midfielder would be right for the game against South Korea.
"It's just a matter of letting the swelling settle down and getting back running," Postecoglou said.
Defender Chris Herd could be another doubt after limping out of Monday's training session with a suspected ankle injury.
AUSTRALIA V OMAN
World Ranking: Australia 100, Oman 93
Ranking among Asian nations: Australia 10, Oman 7
Best Asian Cup finish: Australia runner-up (2011), Oman first round (2004, 2007)
Asian Cup 2011 finish: Australia runner-up, Oman did not qualify
Head-to-head: Australia 3, Oman 3, draw 1
Past five meetings:
26/3/13 Australia 2 Oman 2 (in Sydney)
8/6/12 Australia 0 Oman 0 (Muscat)
11/11/11 Australia 0 Oman 1 (Muscat)
11/10/11 Australia 3 Oman 0 (Sydney)
14/11/09 Australia 2 Oman 1 (Muscat)
Odds (TAB Sportsbet):
Australia $1.35 Oman $9.00 draw $4.25
To win cup: Australia $3.50 Oman $126.00
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