Socceroo skipper Mile Jedinak is the headline inclusion in the 30-man preliminary squad selected by coach Ange Postecoglou for Australia's crucial World Cup play-offs with Syria in early October.

But there will be as much interest in the recall of striker Nikita Rukavytsya from the international wilderness as there is in the return of the captain given Australia's struggle to score goals in recent games.

Rukavytsya is playing in Israel with Maccabi Haifa, but has not been seen in an Australian set-up for three years.

Postecoglou has plumped in the main for recent international experience, selecting 22 of the 23 players he chose for the two ties which condemned Australia to the lottery of the play-offs when they lost to Japan and then could only beat Thailand 2-1 in Melbourne. The absentee is defender Matthew Spiranovic.