Arnold, who serves as both Socceroos and Olyroos boss, unveiled his 23-player squad for the upcoming AFC U23 Championships on Monday morning, with 14 A-League players and 9 internationally based players making the cut.

With Arnold having made no secret of his desire to have more opportunities to bring Australia’s U23s together after they secured qualification for the Championships, the Olyroos have been staged a number of training camps in the lead into the tournament; most recently in China where they also won friendlies against China, North Korea and Lithuania.

However, with the A-League not recognising international breaks in 2019/20 – Australian-based players will miss up to a month of football should they progress deep into the tournament – opportunities for a more expanded prep have been limited.

But while Daniel Arzani and Harry Souttar are notable absences from the group named – a rehabbing Daniel Arzani not deemed up to the rigours of tournament football in steamy Thailand and Souttar unlikely to be released by his English club – Arnold is nonetheless confident that his squad has what it takes to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

“I had to come up with an alternative plan because with the A-League in full flight,” Arnold said when asked about preparations. “All the other teams have been in camp for three weeks, they’re already over there and they’ve already had those camps.

“Our alternative was to have camps in the FIFA windows and get the boys to know each other, get the boys to understand the style of play and get the boys to buy into the energy and the process of what needs to happen.

“So, we go over there with ten days before our first game, we arrive in Malaysia tonight, play against South Korea on Saturday, a bit of a tune-up camp and then we go into the qualifiers with full belief.

“I went out last September, in 2018, and explained to all the coaches and asked for their support in rebuilding the Olympic team.

“It’s not part of my job, not part of my contract but I felt that it was something that I needed to do for the development and for the depth of the Socceroos.

“The coaches from last year were across it and aware of it.

“The only ones this year that have said something about it have been the new coaches that were unaware of it in Erick Mombaerts, Gertjan Verbeek and Robbie Fowler.

“But I’ve spoken to them since and they’re all clear on it now and there are no problems at all.

“The research that I’ve done and presented to the [FFA] board and presented to the A-League owners shows that since 1992 – when the Olympics became a U23 competition –it’s produced six or seven top Socceroos.

“[Mark] Bresciano and [Vince] Grella didn’t play for the Socceroos until they were Olympians. It’s the next phase in the journey for these kids to become Socceroos.

“I truly believe from what I’ve seen – and that’s why I took the job, to work and get to know them mentally – I believe that by the end of 2020 there will be five kids that will be part of the Socceroos squad."

Notable for their inclusion in Arnold’s squad is Melbourne City’s Connor Metcalfe and Adelaide United’s Al Hassan Toure.

Both players burst onto the scene thanks to standout performances for their respective clubs during the FFA Cup and have continued their momentum into the 2019/20 A-League season – Metcalfe starting seven games for City and Toure also starting seven for Adelaide.

While opportunities have mostly been frustratingly rare for young Australians in recent years, they represent a promising, but still nascent, trend of young players receiving minutes in 2019/20.

It’s something that Arnold has noted, and appreciates, but he still says that more than can be done.

“I’ve seen some great performances from young Australians that are doing very well, he said” “Sometimes, it’s funny, sometimes when [A-League] clubs play the young Australians they win over the foreigners.

“But it’s not about young boys playing in the A-League. They play in the A-League if they’re good enough.

“If they’re not good enough, give them somewhere to play.

“For me, what needs to happen as quickly as possible, to start a new wave for the junior players in Australia, to help them fulfil their dreams and give them the journey in life, is that a reserve grade competition has to happen ASAP.

“Because still, there are too many kids sitting in the grandstands in suits watching games.

“And the NYL? A competition with only nine NYL games is nowhere near enough.”

Australia will begin their AFC U23 Championship campaign against Iraq on January 8 before moving onto group games against Thailand and Bahrain.

A minimum third-place finish at the tournament is required to secure qualification for Tokyo 2020.