The goalless draw in Kunming leaves Pim Verbeek’s men top of their group with four matches left to play. With a home game against Iraq next on the agenda the Newcastle Jets goalkeeper says the men in green and gold must now look to drive home their advantage.

Speaking to au.fourfourtwo.com at Sydney Airport this morning, he said: “I think it was a great result to come away from China with the point, especially considering how little time we had to prepare and the injury problems that we had. We weren’t jumping around in the dressing room afterwards but we were very satisfied to be heading home with the point.”

Four points from the opening two group games represents an excellent start and sends out a strong message to the other three sides battling for top spot.

Covic said: “Right now we’re in a good position with a home game to come. Let’s win that next home game and put the pressure on the other teams, get them into the mentality that we’ve already qualified and are very tough opposition.

“The next game is the most critical and there’s no question that seven points at the halfway point would be a fantastic spot to be in. Right now we’re in a very positive frame of mind.”

Covic was one of several A-League players in Verbeek’s squad and despite the coach’s less than enthusiastic comments about the domestic competition, the Jets keeper sees no quality control issues when it comes to selection.

He said: “We know we have quality players, both overseas and in the A-League. We knew we had the players to do the job. There was never a time where we panicked because this player or that player was out.

“Of course there is always room for improvement in the a-league, that’s not in question, but there’s definitely a select few in our competition capable of stepping up for their country. I’ve never doubted that.”

To prove his point Covic highlighted the performance of his Newcastle Jets colleague Jade North, the defender having been much lauded for his display as part of a back three in Kunming.

The Jets custodian said: “For me Jade was one of the best players out there. He was solid, never made a mistake and his control was fantastic. We had another A-League starter in Archie Thompson of course. It was unfortunate for him that he had to come off so early.”

Covic had to be content with a place on the bench of course and looked on as Mark Schwarzer performed penalty heroics for his country yet again.

Having conceded the spot-kick, unjustly so in the Middlesbrough keeper’s eyes, Covic revealed that Schwarzer had not been revelling in the save. He said: "No, he wasn’t crowing about it. I just congratulated him. Schwarz’s done it before with penalties. It would have been unjust if they’d won it like that. It was terrible penalty but Mark still had to choose the right way to go.”