Arnold is keen to ease the pressure on Mark Viduka by using Kewell in a supporting striker role.

But Arnold believes deploying his skipper's former Leeds team-mate in a more attacking role could see the Socceroos enjoy a prolific tournament when they take on Asia's best for the first time in just under four weeks.

"I want Kewell to be a finisher not a provider," Arnold said.

"I want Kewell to play in an attacking role at the top of the diamond just behind Viduka.

"With Marco Bresciano on the left and Mile Sterjovski on the right providing the service and Kewell playing off Viduka in the hole, I'm confident we will solve our scoring problem."

Australia will make their debut in the competition as one of the favourites to lift the trophy on July 29 in Jakarta after their performances in reaching the second round of the World Cup in Germany last summer, beating Asian Cup rivals Japan along the way.

They get their campaign under way against Oman on July 8 in Bangkok and despite expecting to qualify from Group A, which also contains Iraq and co-hosts Thailand, Arnold is not taking any chances.

"It won't be easy, especially in the extreme conditions we will face," he added.

"We've watched Oman play and we have sort of worked them out. "They are an athletic side that did well to reach the Gulf Cup final in January but the problem is they recently changed their coach and we are not quite sure if the new bloke will retain the team's style.

"I've had people watching Oman, Iraq and Thailand and I can assure you we know a good deal about them.

"We know all about their strengths and weaknesses, playing styles and best players."