St Mirren star Keanu Baccus insists he’s primed and ready to help Australia reach the knockout stages of the World Cup any way he can.
The 24-year-old has come on as a late substitute in both of the Socceroos’ opening fixtures in Qatar, including Saturday’s huge 1-0 win against Tunisia.
That victory has set the Aussies up with a glorious chance to make it to the last-16 for the first time since 2006, where football icon Lionel Messi’s Argentina could by lying in wait.
Baccus and his teammates know a win in their final Group D match against Denmark, which kick-offs at 3pm on Wednesday, would see them progress alongside world champions France.
With the much-fancied French on course to win the group, the runners up in Group D will face the winners of Group C, which currently looks likely to be either Poland, Argentina or Saudi Arabia.
And when asked what head coach Graham Arnold’s advice to him was ahead of Australia's crunch clash with the Danes, the St Mirren midfielder said: “He says to stay ready.
“Obviously the boys are doing a great job and sometimes you have got to wait for your chance, because they’re great players and they have got great careers.
“They’re a bit older, but you have just got to wait for your chance, stay ready and then he’s looking at me.
“He trusts me to come on in those last few minutes to help the team. That is what I want to do most importantly.
"As a player you want to be a part of these big games because you learn a lot from them. Hopefully there's more to come from us, for myself and as a country.
"We'll keep doing our best to try and make everyone proud."
READ MORE:
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here
