The all-seeing eye of Socceroos boss Tony Popovic is forcing Brandon Borrello to take his game to a new level and to one which the striker hopes can strengthen Australia's quest for automatic World Cup qualification.
Borrello is one of the contenders to lead the line for Australia on Thursday when they host Indonesia at Sydney's Allianz Stadium after Popovic opted to leave the dependable Mitchell Duke out of his squad.
The 29-year-old Borrello has not played under Popovic at club level.
But after his first camp with the Australian manager in November, the Western Sydney Wanderers forward was left in little doubt as to the high levels Popovic demands.
"You see him on the big screen when he comes to watch the games in Australia but you can't just perform when he's there," Borrello told AAP.
"Even if he's not in the country I'm sure he's still watching the games. He's diligent like that.
"He wants perfection … and while you won't have perfect training sessions or 10/10 games, he wants as close to that (perfection) in what he does.
"It opened my eyes up with the first camp I was in, I knew pretty quickly I had to take myself to a new level.
"He was telling me, 'Brandon, we've got to get you fit'. And I thought I was fit! He sees your weaknesses and wants to knuckle down on them."
Popovic oversaw a shake-up to his staff as soon as he took the role last year, changing the coaching team, appointing his own analyst and installing a team dietician.
The coach's pursuit to find any advantage possible and guarantee Australia qualifies for next year's World Cup in North America has also encouraged Borrello to think about making changes to his game.
"The diet is what comes first and sleep recovery is a big factor," Borrello said.
"You've got all your recovery techniques and sleep, with the timezones in the national team environment.
"You want to bring your own pillow. No red light, no blue light.
"All these things are things you can control; it's all about how you optimise it."
Borrello, who has scored six goals and registered seven assists in the A-League Men this season, is stressing the need for Australia to start this month's qualification window with a bang.
Australia occupy the second automatic spot in their group but Indonesia and China, who they face on March 25, sit one point behind Popovic's side.
"It is a bit of a pressure cooker where we could've made it a lot easier for ourselves," Borrello said.
"We're in a very good position and when we get the points we can qualify automatically.
"Every game has got its pressure and this is obviously one of the bigger times where we have to step up."
