Socceroos midfielder Troisi ready to end Syria's dream run

Bengaluru, September: Socceroos midfielder James Troisi says Australia are ready to end Syria's fairytale in the Asian World Cup play-off and mke it to Russia 2018.

The Melbourne Victory playmaker will join his Socceroos team mates in Malacca, Malaysia for the first clash of the two-leg series on October 5.

The return leg will be played in Sydney five days later.

The plucky Syrians, forced to host their qualifiers away from the war-torn Middle Eastern nation due to security concerns, will be the sentimental favourites as they battle to overcome Ange Postecoglou's side and continue their bid for a maiden World Cup appearance.

Australia's failure to grab a direct ticket to their fourth successive World Cup has raised alarm bells at home but Troisi was confident the Asian Cup champions could produce the right performance at Hang Jebat Stadium.

"All credit to (Syria). They are in the position they are," said Troisi.

"They have an opportunity, just like us. In saying that, we want to go to the World Cup and we've got a bit of work to do. We won't underestimate them.

"We're in this position because we couldn't get the job done for whatever reason and we left it in someone else's hands which is not always a good thing, it didn't work out.

"So now we've got a bit of a longer road but we're pretty together and like I said, we know what we have to do. I'm quietly confident that we'll get the job done," added the 29-year-old.

After the two leg play-offs, the overall winner will play the fourth placed team in North and Central American qualifying in November in another two-leg play-off for a berth in next year's 32-team tournament in Russia.