Defender Trent Sainsbury says it's important the Socceroos regroup quickly and focus on picking up some momentum from their final World Cup qualifying group match against Saudi Arabia.
The Socceroos trained in Jeddah on Saturday after arriving late on Friday night following Thursday night's dispiriting 2-1 home loss to Japan which ended hopes of direct qualification.
They must now get ready to tackle the two-step playoff process as their last chance to get to Qatar 2022.
Sainsbury was a member of the Socceroos' squad that qualified for Russia 2018 through the playoff process four-and-a-half years ago.
He said the clash with Saudi Arabia at King Abdullah Sports City on Tuesday night (Wednesday 0500AEDT) was far from meaningless for the players.
"Obviously (the Japan loss) was a difficult result to take, but at the same time we have another match coming up in a couple of days and you have to prepare for that," Sainsbury said.
"Any time that the boys can spend together in camp is bonding time, and that is important. The best teams in the world have the best groups, so any extra days that we can get together is priceless.
"I have never had a dead rubber in an Australian shirt. Putting on the green and gold is always a privilege and an honour, so there has never been a dead rubber to me.
"Obviously, we can't go direct to the World Cup now, but we still have the chance to take some momentum into the upcoming (playoff) games."
