Kid Curran on Arnold's Socceroos radar

Australia coach Graham Arnold is monitoring the progress of former protege turned Dundee FC defender Jesse Curran, as he seeks to add depth to a problematic right-back position with the national team.

Jesse Curran in action for Dundee FC Source: Getty Images

Whilst Western Sydney Wanderers’ Josh Risdon performed with distinction in the role at the FIFA World Cup and looks to have nailed down the spot, Arnold wants intense competition for every position and is currently in the UK watching players and cementing contacts with clubs with one eye firmly fixed on January’s AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Curran, who can also operate in central midfield or as a winger or wing-back, was a member of the Central Coast Mariners’ youth academy during Arnold’s trophy-laden tenure, and is well known to the man in the process of refashioning and rebooting the green and gold.

The dual nationality utility was the NYL player of the year in 2014, but never made a senior appearance for the Mariners and departed to trial with Dundee in 2015.

Now in his fourth season at Dens Park - which has included loans at Montrose and East Fife - Curran has started six of the club’s seven SPL games this season.

Only deployed as a right-back by coach Neil McCann this season, he was missing this weekend as they picked up their first points of the season with a 2-0 win at Hamilton.

Arnold watched him in the flesh for the first time in four years in the 4-0 loss to Rangers two weeks back, conforming subsequently he’s on his radar for a role where obvious cover for Risdon is thin on the ground, though both Milos Degenek and Bailey Wright have at various times filled that slot.

Arnold is expected to name his 23-man squad in the coming days for the friendly international with Kuwait in Kuwait City on October 15.

And whilst Curran, who is also eligible for Scotland, is unlikely to get a call at this point, he’s closer than he’s ever been to national team recognition.