Melbourne City are optimistic Mathew Leckie has avoided a calf injury as the veteran attacker pushes for his first Socceroos call-up in eight months.
But the 34-year-old will head for scans hoping for good news days out from Tony Popovic announcing his squad for World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia on March 20 and China five days later.
Leckie has played just two internationals since the 2022 World Cup, amid a rough run with soft tissue injures, and he hasn't featured for Australia since they met Palestine last June.
He's hit a purple patch of form since returning from a recent hamstring injury, playing predominantly in midfield for City.
Leckie was among City's better performers in Wednesday night's 1-0 loss to Newcastle before he came off with calf tightness in the 76th minute, with coach Aurelio Vidmar playing down any concerns.
"He started getting a little bit tight around the calves," Vidmar said.
"So we're not gonna risk with him. We're not sure so he'll go have a scan tomorrow and then we'll see.
"He said when he came off he didn't feel anything anything sharp, he just felt some tightness coming along. So he stopped.
"So that's probably the most sensible thing to do at this stage."
Clubs expect to learn on Thursday, ahead of Friday's anticipated announcement, which of their players have been called up.
When asked if he'd expected Leckie's form to be rewarded, Vidmar said: "More than likely, yeah."
"I think Aziz (Behich) is gonna be there, Nate (Atkinson), Tils (Marco Tilio), Kye (Rowles) I think should be.
"But who knows? We'll see what Mr Popovic says tomorrow."
Goalkeeper Patrick Beach will join up with the Olyroos for the Doha International U23 Cup.
It would mean City are down on numbers for preparing for their next game, against Sydney FC after the international break.
"We know more that likely Beachy's going away with the 23s," Vidmar said.
"We won't know until tomorrow which other players are going to go with the national team. So there'll be a few players missing."
Israeli winger Yonatan Cohen missed Wednesday night's match with calf tightness but Vidmar was confident he would be available to face Sydney.
