With Tomi Juric struggling with a knee injury, Andrew Nabbout's hopes of a World Cup start for the Socceroos were given a boost only for Jamie Maclaren to be brought back into the squad as back up.
Though yet another player he must challenge for a spot, let alone a start in Australia's World Cup squad, Nabbout is relishing the extra competition Maclaren's arrival has brought with it.
"You’ve seen the kind of quality Jamie brings and it’s good that he’s here - it brings a little bit extra competition," Nabbout said from Socceroos camp in Turkey.
"Now there’s one more person to be up against and that’s what we want.
"That’s the best place to be where the expectations are high, the competition is high, so it’s good to have him here and we've definitely got a few attacking options.
"We’ve been working on (attacking) this week, really going forward."
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Nabbout only made his Socceroos debut in March against Norway, while Maclaren has just four caps for the national team after making his first appearance back in 2016.
The duo will be desperate to show what they can bring to the squad in Russia with a friendly against Czech Republic on June 1.
Following that, four players will be cut from the squad on June 4 with another friendly against Hungary set to take place on June 10.
Australia's World Cup campaign will then kick off against France on June 16 in Kazan with games against Denmark and Peru to follow.
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