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The former Liverpool winger was left out of the Australian team for the friendly in Cardiff because of his low fitness level.

The 32-year-old has struggled to find a club all summer after seeing out his contract with Turkish giants Galatasaray at the end of last season.

However, Osieck, who included captain Lucas Neill despite the defender too being without a club at the moment after having his contract with Galatasaray terminated in the summer, said that Kewell has not been discarded from his scheme permanently.

"I still consider Harry based on his experience and quality as one of our major members of the team," Osieck said overnight.

"Unfortunately, right now he is in a little bit of a limbo in his club situation. I hope that he will solve it and come back to the [Australia] team. He is definitely in the loop.

"He is healthy and is okay, but the difference between being healthy and match fit is quite significant."

Looking ahead to their encounter on Wednesday, Osieck underlined the strength of their opponents and also explained the importance of it for their preparation for the upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifying games against Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

"Considering our schedule and the upcoming (World Cup) qualifying campaign, it is the final opportunity for me to have the boys together and to test ourselves against a pretty decent team," the 62-year-old said.

"Wales have a couple of excellent individuals and like all British teams they have good cohesion in the group and I am looking forward to it.

"I rate Wales pretty highly. Some of their individuals are quality players. If you look at (Aaron) Ramsey, (Craig) Bellamy and (Robert) Earnshaw, they are all top class players; the rest are not bad either.

"We will face a very strong team tomorrow."

Speaking on team selection and who he would play between Scott McDonald and Robbie Kruse as Australia's forward against Wales, Osieck said: "Robbie is back and in good shape, and so is Scott. So we can have variation.

"I have not decided yet. I always leave it until the day of the game but both will get some decent playing time."

When pointed out that Middlesbrough striker McDonald has yet to score for Australia after 24 matches, Osieck replied with a smile: "Every series comes to an end."

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