Australia v Thailand pic special

Australia were dominant against Thailand but couldn’t break the deadlock until the 69th minute through Tomi Juric.

The Socceroos needed a healthy win, likely by four goals or more, but had to settle for a narrow triumph, which leaves Saudi Arabia needing only victory against Japan (from 3.30am AEST Wednesday) to progress.

“We didn’t get what we deserved tonight but hopefully we get what we deserve in the other game,” Postecoglou told Fox Sports.

“It’s been a hard campaign for the boys. We’ve lost one game and they’ve stuck to the task and the challenges I’ve thrown at them.

“I think they deserve to go through.”

If Saudi Arabia triumph, Australia will finish in third, leaving them with a play-off against either South Korea, Uzbekistan or Syria.

Postecoglou said he hadn’t entertained any thoughts about the play-offs at this point.

“We’ll wait and see what happens tonight and we’ll address that after,” he said.

Postecoglou and his staff and players face a sleepless night as they sweat on the Saudi Arabia-Japan result, although a handful of players are due to fly out before the game kicks off.

The Australia boss added that he couldn’t fault his players for their effort against Thailand.

“We hit the post three times and had a couple cleared off the line. It is a game of inches,” he said.

“I can’t fault the players. They did exactly what they needed to do.

“They made the opposition work. We were missing a little bit of luck.”

He continued: “It is frustrating because the team and the players deserved more than that.

“It can be a cruel game sometimes. They did everything they could to get the goals and unfortunately in the end it wasn’t meant to be.”

Reflecting on Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign so far, Postecoglou said the team had progressed.

“It’s been a tough one. At the end of it, we’ve been progressing as a team,” he said.

“The players and the team they’ve done everything I’ve asked of them and more.

“They’ve really believed in what we wanted to do. Today was further evidence of that.”

Australia v Thailand pic special