Cahill has been ruled out to allow him to continue to recover from soreness that saw him miss last weekend’s A-League clash with Adelaide United.

“Tim has been left out primarily because we have a 10 day lead in, which is very rare, and I want to be able to put the squad through a lot of work,” Postecoglou said.

“He has done a lot of travel for club and country and I have decided it is better he remains in Melbourne where he is being managed well to ensure he is back on the park as soon as possible and ready for us down the track.”

Postecoglou trimmed the 30-man squad to 23 with Japan-based striker Nathan Burns, Perth Glory’s Josh Risdon, Milos Degenek and Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren added to the squad that drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia and 1-1 with Japan in October.

They replace Cahill, Apo Giannou, Chris Ikonomidis and Ryan McGowan.

“We’ve made four changes to the squad that played Saudi Arabia and Japan last month,” Postecoglou said.

“It was good to have another weekend of matches to look at before deciding on the final 23-man squad and we will travel to Thailand for a solid training camp ahead of what is an important match.

“The Thailand match is the halfway mark in this stage of qualifying and with the group so tight it is important that we put in a good performance to ensure we can continue to be amongst the front runners. We have a big lead in so we will get through a lot of work before the match so we are ready to go on the 15th.”

Postecoglou has also recalled fullbacks Josh Risdon and Milos Degenek for the November 15 clash.