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Martin Boyle has been given the green light to face Saudi Arabia on Thursday night.Credit:Getty

The 28-year-old has been in sensational form in the Scottish Premiership,scoring seven times in 11 games to sit joint top of the goalscoring charts,alongside Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic ace Kyogo Furuhashi.

Despite being named in Arnold’s squad last week,there were fears Boyle would not be able to fly out for Australia’s first match on home soil in more than two years as he had been deemed a close contact of a teammate who had contracted COVID-19.

However,he was given the green light after discussions between Football Australia and authorities in both Scotland and Australia resulted in him being granted permission to travel.

It’s a welcome boost for the Socceroos,who arealready missing playmakers Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy and striker Adam Taggart,while midfielder Ajdin Hrustic is also believed to be carrying an injury from club duty in Germany.

Australia’s Jamie Maclaren gets his head on the ball against Nepal in Kuwait earlier this year.Credit:AP

Only five players – A-League Men players Jamie Maclaren,Andrew Nabbout,Mathew Leckie and Rhyan Grant,and Japan-based striker Mitch Duke – were on deck for Australia’s first training session of the week on Monday,with the majority of the European-based players in the squad due to land late on Monday or Tuesday.

Maclaren,who played alongside Boyle at Hibernian three years ago,described the clash with the Saudis as the biggest of his own international career so far.

The A-League golden boot hasn’t played for the Socceroos since June,having sat out the last two international windows to avoid repeated stints in hotel quarantine upon returning home. His Melbourne City teammates Mathew Leckie and Andrew Nabbout were also in the same boat,but all three of them are in the current squad and raring to go.

“It was tough – really,really tough. It really upset me,” Maclaren said of having to miss out on representing Australia. “We talked daily about how much we miss it and kind of dissect the game and talk about how exciting and great it was to watch them play in Doha,and when we saw the fixture come out that there’s a game in NSW,we couldn’t wait.”

With Taggart out,Maclaren shapes as a likely starter against Saudi Arabia,who sit top of Group B with four wins from four. The Socceroos are three points behind them in second position,but wins on Thursday night – and then next Tuesday against China in the UAE – will all but ensure qualification for Qatar 2022.

“I’m hungry as ever,” Maclaren said.

“We’ve been training for 15 weeks. We’ve been doing a lot of long-distance running which probably some of the boys who have the[match] minutes under their belt don’t quite do at club level. That’s purely the nature of the A-League. It’s a long pre-season and it’s given us enough time to make sure we’re working on our bodies.

“We’ve had that much time,our bodies are so fit,we’re coming in ready,fresh and - if selected - ready to go.”

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