Socceroos striker Scott McDonald is in grave doubt for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain after being struck down by a virus.
McDonald did not play in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Hamilton on Sunday and his manager Gordon Strachan said immediately his player would not be available for the match.
“He won’t fly. It’s impossible with the virus to get on a plane and be in that restricted area for that amount of time and then go out in the heat and try and train,” Strachan said.
“He is weak as it is.”
Socceroos officials have not yet officially ruled out McDonald but are expected to announce later on Monday whether or not he will come to Bahrain.
If he is ruled out it would he would become another in a growing list of casualties for the Socceroos with Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Craig Moore, Matthew Spiranovic and Mark Milligan already ruled out of the squad due to injury or illness.
The bulk of the Australian team is arriving in Manama on Monday before the team trains with coach Pim Verbeek later on Monday evening.
