Tommy Oar is hitting his straps in Europe and feels it's only a matter of time until he does the same for the Socceroos.
By his own admission, Oar hasn't been producing his best in the green and gold of late.
The exciting 22-year-old winger didn't have the impact he'd hoped for at the World Cup, but he's bounced back strongly at club level with the best start to a season of his career.
While his Dutch club FC Utrecht sit mid-table after eight games, Oar is one of the form players in the Eredivisie, leading the league in assists and opportunities created despite a knee injury limiting him to five appearances.
Oar believes his growing stature in the Netherlands is a result of his continued development since moving to Europe in 2010 and he's confident his international career can follow a similar pattern.
"I guess now I've almost played 100 games for Utrecht so I'm getting more experience and getting more comfortable at that level," Oar told AAP ahead of Australia's friendly against the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT).
"Personally I'm quite satisfied with how it's gone so far this season but I'm not taking it for granted - I want to keep it going and keep improving.
"As I get more experienced, hopefully I can transfer the form I'm showing for Utrecht to the national team."
Oar was touted as Australian football's next big thing when he made his Socceroos debut as an 18-year-old but has lacked consistency over his 20 international appearances.
The former Brisbane Roar star had some promising moments in Brazil but was let down by errors, while his impact in friendlies since has also been limited.
"If you look back at the World Cup and just after, it was no secret that I was a bit disappointed with how I went," Oar said.
"But I'm also not trying to beat myself up too much as well.
"I'm still young. I'm still developing and every time I play, I'm trying to do my best."
Oar is confident his international career can blossom under Socceroos coach and his former Roar mentor Ange Postecoglou.
"He's great at bringing out the best in people," Oar said.
"He really understands people and can tap into that Australian mentality of working hard, and combines that with some good knowledge of the game to try and get the best out of us tactically as well."
Oar's recent heavy workload meant he only took part in light duties as Australia trained for just over an hour in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night, with big guns Mile Jedinak and Tim Cahill also sitting out the main session.
Oar said the matches against UAE and Qatar (in Doha next week) were ones an ambitious Australian team should be expecting to win as their Asian Cup build-up intensifies.
"We always respect the opposition but we want to win every game and this is no different," Oar said.
"But also important for us is the performance, the way we play and implementing the style Ange wants to play and making sure we improve."
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