The Central Coast Mariners left-back will be looking to get the better of Queensland Roar in the Pre-Season Cup this weekend while the national side bids to see off Japan in the humidity of Vietnam.

Michael Beauchamp featured in the Australian side which advanced to the last eight after a 4-0 win over Thailand and Heffernan was delighted to see his former FC Nurnburg and Mariners colleague seize his chance.

The duo played their domestic football together in Germany last season and Heffernan hopes his mate will be handed another chance against the Japanese.

He said: “Yeah, he’s done really well, I’m sure he enjoyed it and it would be great to see him get another go.”

As a highly-rated left-back, Heffernan is in a good position to stake a claim for the so-called ‘problem’ area in the Australian side but one of his A-League peers stepped in against Thailand to provide coach Arnold with food for thought.

Sydney FC’s David Carney received plenty of credit for his contribution to the Thai victory, as did club colleague Mark Milligan.

Heffernan said: “It’s got to be a great thing for the A-League to have those players in there and like any footballer I’d love to be in there as well.

“People talk about the different standards of the football here in Australia and abroad. I really don’t think it’s that great. I was playing my football at a club which had several internationals as well.”

Heffernan accepts that the perceived gulf may be wider than the actual one, and while he acknowledges that playing abroad is always going to be an ambition for some, feels it is not essential in order to flourish.

He said: There is obviously talk about the A-League players in the squad (specifically Carney and Milligan) but I really hope that guys like that stay. I love playing against good players and we need to keep good players here.”

As for his international ambitions, Heffernan knows success at club level will do his cause no harm.

Speaking to au.fourfourtwo.com today after training, the 27-year-old said: “Obviously you want to do as well as you can for your club first and foremost.
“A good pre-season is important. In our first year we won the Pre-Season Cup and went on to reach the grand final so it shows you what’s possible.

“Every performance and every game is important. I’m playing here with my mates and they are people you go the extra mile for.”

Heffernan and his colleagues currently top their Pre-Season Cup group but the defender is not expecting Queensland Roar to be pushovers.

He said: “It will be another challenge for us. It’s pretty cold here (in Orange) though so maybe we’ll have the advantage of being more used to lower temperatures than them.”

But back to the international task at hand, namely beating Japan. Heffernan said: “I was there in Kaiserslautern in the World Cup. It was some finish to the game. Obviously this is a new match but hopefully we’ll come out on top again.”