The Socceroos’ meeting with Curuçao in Melbourne tonight will provide Tony Popovic one final chance to look at 18-year old Lucas Herrington, before finalising his extended World Cup squad.

Brisbane Roar product Herrington – now playing for MLS club Colorado Rapids – impressed on international debut against Cameroon on Friday. If he were a striker he might consider himself a shout, such is the paucity of fit, quality options before Popovic. Instead, he finds himself among a well-stocked bevy of centre-backs.

Still, with 26 players to be taken and Popovic’s preference for five at the back – and still with plenty of club football to be played – another strong showing would do him no harm. Whether he earns a second start could indicate just how seriously he’s being considered.

Craig Moore was only a year older than Herrington when he played the first of his 53-matches for Australia against Ghana in 1995, and said the young Queenslander’s performance brought back fond memories.

‘Lucas has done very, very well through his introduction with Brisbane Roar, and he’s shown the importance of any player, in particular those so young, being exposed to senior football. Those I’ve spoken to in the US have said his impact has been immediate’, Moore told Box2Box.

‘To debut for the senior national team as an 18-year old and really look as if he wasn’t out of place… he looks like he’s got a really big future ahead of him.

‘It’s not easy when you’re coming into a national team setup at any age, let alone eighteen. Popa will be a great mentor and coach for him too, because he knows exactly what it’s all about.’

Popovic entered this camp with two uncapped strikers to assess, and had a 45-minute look at Deni Juric on Friday before hooking both he and Martin Boyle in favour of Nestory Irankunda and Awer Mabil.

Ante Suto looms as the last player he’s yet to see on the pitch. The Croatian-born striker hadn’t been to Australia prior to this camp, but has put himself in the frame with a burst of goals from Hibernian since moving from Slaven Bulepo in February.

Neither the dynamic Mohamed Toure or dependable Mitch Duke are in this squad but look frontrunners for the tournament proper; ill-timed injuries to Nick D’Agostino, Noah Botic & Kusini Yengi have Popovic searching until the death-knock for support.

‘I’m still hopeful that D’Agostino can prove his fitness and give himself a chance to get in the squad, because I feel he’s a player that does know how to score goals and works extremely hard from that top end, which is really important to the way Popovic will look to set up.

‘The striker options are always difficult ones. Unfortunately, we’ve got a few players picking up things at the wrong time. All of a sudden with Suto… sometimes it creates opportunities, or makes us look a bit harder to see who else is out there.

‘Being a former teammate of mine, I know exactly how Tony operated as a player, and as a manager as well he’ll make sure there’s good togetherness within the squad. Everybody will need to be looking to put in a shift, because the reality is it’s going to be about the whole squad, not just the starting eleven.’