The 21-year-old has barely missed a game for Groningen since returning to the club after representing Australia at the AFC Under-23 Championships in January.

Hrustic has one Socceroos cap to his name against Brazil in June last year but boosted his international case with strong displays for Ante Milicic's Young Socceroos in January's tournament in China.

The Melbourne product's displays also helped his cause at club level, with Groningen boss Ernest Faber impressed by his performances enough to warrant a recall.

Hrustic had fallen out of favour at Groningen in October after a needless red card which left his side a man down for 70 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Willem II.

But he hasn't looked back since January, even being included in the FoxSports.nl Eredivisie Team of the Week after a goal in a 2-0 win over PEC Zwolle in March.

Now Hrustic is hoping for a Socceroos recall, having not been involved since being cut from the final squad to face Honduras in the 2018 World Cup play-offs.

"I’m playing week-in week-out now in Holland," Hrustic told FourFourTwo, ahead of the final day of the Eredivisie where 12th-placed Groningen will be away to champions PSV Eindhoven from 10.30pm AEST Sunday.

"Our Socceroos boss is Dutch so he’ll be watching. All I can do is give 100 per cent and hope for the best.

“I’m hoping I am part of the squad. You never know what will happen. It would be a dream come true.”

Hrustic had played mostly as a winger for Groningen until a recent suspension to Juninho Bacuna presented an opportunity for the Australian.

Faber decided to try Hrustic in the number eight position as an attacking midfielder, which he's enjoyed.

“I’ve been playing quite well," former Schalke and Nottingham Forest junior Hrustic said.

“I thought against Roda JC (as an attacking midfielder) was probably one of my best games of the season. We played at home and won 2-1.

"(Faber) gave me a lot of responsibility and I think I grabbed it with both hands.

"I feel quite comfortable there. I always have the ball.

“I think that’s my strongest point when I always have the ball at my feet.

“That is my position, playing as an eight or 10. I’m not really a wide player. I’ve been playing most of my life in that position.”

Hrustic's journey back into the Groningen starting XI after losing his spot in October has been unique, utilising the opportunity to get away from his club to play under-age international football.

“It all started with the Under-23s when I went with the national team to China," he said.

"I thought I played quite well there. We obviously didn’t get what we wanted but for me personally it wasn’t only a good experience, it led back to my club who were happy.

"Since then I’ve got a chance to play and I think I’ve played almost every game this half of the season.

“I lost my spot once I got sent off in October.  The manager was obviously disappointed, and I was also, but he gave me a second chance.

"We spoke about going to the Under-23s and the club wasn’t that keen on letting me go. I managed to sit down with the manager and speak to him.

"He said 'what’s going to be good for you and bring back your self confidence?'. That’s what it has done.

"I felt like I played an important role with the Under-23s. Ante Milicic gave me an important role there.

"The manager has seen all the games and seen a different side of me and given me a second chance and I think I’ve taken it well."

Milicic, who is also the Socceroos assistant coach, was similarly impressed with Czech Republic-based defender Aleksandar Susnjar who earned his first Australia call-up in Bert van Marwijk's maiden squad to face Norway and Colombia.

Hrustic is hoping he's in a similar position, buoyed by his Young Socceroos performances.

“I’m hoping for that," he said. "That was also a reason why I spoke to the club and decided to take a step down and go to the Under-23 Championships. 

"The manager understood that and I spoke to Ante and I told him what my hopes are.

"I told him I’d give it everything for this tournament and I'm hoping that it would pay off for the World Cup.”

Van Marwijk will name an extended 32-man preliminary World Cup squad in Sydney on Monday morning.

It is anticipated the majority of the 26-man squad which was selected to face Norway and Colombia will be retained.

Several players are carrying injuries including Bailey Wright (quad), Tomi Juric (ankle) and Andrew Nabbout (shoulder).

Matt Jurman and Trent Sainsbury both recently returned after injury lay-offs in a boost for van Marwijk's defensive options.

Massimo Luongo was given early leave by QPR with two games to play in another boost.

A-League youngsters Daniel Arzani and Riley McGree are likely to come into contention along with Austria-based midfielder Jimmy Jeggo who has played regularly for runners-up Sturm Graz.

Jamie Maclaren's recent run of goal scoring form for Hibernian is expected to see him return to the fold.