Graham Arnold has detailed the reason for Aaron Mooy’s withdrawl from the Socceroos squad for two friendlies against Ecuador.
After their impressive displays at the World Cup Finals in Qatar huge crowds are expected for the matches in Sydney and Melbourne but they won’t be able to watch in the in-form Celtic midfielder.
Mooy scored away to Hearts last Saturday in the Scottish Cup but a back injury ruled him out of the weekend win over Hibs.
After almost a year without club football Mooy was a slow burner in the first half of the season but his World Cup performances took his game to a new level with Celtic enjoying the full benefits.
Discussing a lingering back issue, Arnold told the Daily Mail:
It’s unfortunate for Aaron that he misses these games, something I know he was very much looking forward to playing, but his absence provides an opportunity to a further emerging player as we start this new campaign.
After speaking with Aaron, who missed this weekend’s game, he would only be able to play limited minutes if he came to Australia, so the decision was made for him to stay in Scotland and continue his recovery.
With a fortnight to go until Celtic face Ross County Ange Postecoglou will be hopeful that Mooy is fit and well for the resumption of club action.
The midfielder won’t be short of company at Lennoxtown over the next two weeks with Greg Taylot, Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Cameron Carter-Vickers all missing out on international duty.