Attacking weapon Mitch Duke sidelined with injured hamstring at Asian Cup

First-choice Socceroos striker Mitch Duke’s Asian Cup campaign is in jeopardy due to a hamstring injury that will rule him out of Australia’s clash with Uzbekistan on Tuesday night.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold revealed that Duke suffered the hamstring strain in Australia’s 1-0 win over Syria last Thursday in Doha.

While the 33-year-old centre-forward didn’t seem hampered when he was replaced in the 78th minute by veteran marksman Bruno Fornaroli, scans later revealed what Arnold described as a “small strain”.

“It’ll be one game at a time for him, but we’ll see where that lands over the next week,” Arnold said in announcing Duke’s injury.

“He had a scan, and he’s got a small strain, so he’ll be out (of the game against Uzbekistan), so that’ll be an opportunity for me to have a look at other players as well, and against good opposition, it’ll be a great test.”

Fornaroli, the 36-year-old Uruguay-born forward who been in scintillating form this season for Melbourne Victory, seems likely to come into the starting team, having twice come off the bench during the tournament to replace Duke.

Portsmouth marksman Kusini Yengi is also an option, while SV Wehen Wiesbaden striker John Iredale is the other centre-forward in Australia’s 26-man squad.

“There’ll be a few changes, but I don’t think there’s much difference in the depth of our squad now,” Arnold said.

“If you make changes, the team will still be strong and very strong. I do expect that we’re going out there to win the game.

“Uzbekistan are coming along a lot as a country. They invest a lot of money in football and they’re a good side, but we’ll be ready for them.”

Another likely change to Australia’s team that started against Syria is the inclusion of attacking