The defensive midfielder has been in stellar form for Burton Albion in the English Championship this season.

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has a tough decision on his hands with a clutch of midfielders, including Mile Jedinak, Aaron Mooy, Massimo Luongo and Mark Milligan, all pushing for only a handful of positions.

Irvine has bagged nine goals in 36 appearances for the Brewers, his first campaign in England after his move from Ross County, and has put down a marker for a midfield role.

"Yeah I think so," he said.

"It's difficult one because each camp, each gap between each camp, gives you a chance to go back to your club and find a new vein of form that will, first of all make yourself available for selection, and then hopefully be a part of the boss's plans for the games.

"My approach has always been the same - just try and keep playing as many games as possible and try and learn and develop. If that sees me in the Socceroos squad and starting team then that's a reward for your form."

Irvine came off the bench in the Socceroos 2-0 win over Iraq in  Perth in September. The 24-year old remembers that game well.

"Every game's difficult, every team in these qualifiers has something to offer and most teams will set out to make it difficult for us knowing the way we want to play and trying to counteract that," he said.

"The game was always going to be about scoring the first goal. I think it was 0-0 at half-time and I think we could all feel once we got the first goal it would sort of open up the game. We did and we had another couple of chances before the second, and then it went in and I think it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on."

Irvine said Australia can't afford to be complacent when they face the Iraqis again on Thursday.

"Our approach will never change," the Burton star said.

"We'll always focus on playing our game and focusing on the tactics we've worked on. Every team on the their day is capable of hurting you and they'll try and feed off our mistakes and off our play, so we'll need to be fully focused and switched on to get the result."