Nabbout damaged his shoulder seriously in Russia during the Socceroos' 1-1 draw with Denmark.

The injury meant a long layoff and cast huge doubt about his availability for the Asian tournament in January.

But the striker worked over-time to repair his shoulder and was back on the field just four months later for his Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds.

"It (returning from his shoulder injury) took a lot of work, to be honest," Nabbout admits.

"I cut my recovery time in half which meant that it was going to require a lot of work to be ready for this Asian Cup. But I had something to look forward to, I had a goal, and I never once thought in my mind that I wouldn’t be ready for this tournament.

"So, I put that in my head and I did my rehab three times a day until I was ready to come back onto the pitch and then when I was on the pitch I was training twice a day to get fit again. It was a lot of hard work, but it challenged me mentally which was good.

"I hadn’t had an injury like that, this has been my longest lay-off, so it was good to get that mental test and now I am back, and I am ready."

Nabbout greets fans after last months 3-0 defeat of Lebanon

Nabbout made six appearances and grabbed two assists before the end of the J1 League season.

The former Newcastle Jets attacker and the Socceroos will face Oman this Sunday in the lead-up to the Asian Cup.

Nabbout believes the friendly will be "huge" for the green and gold.

"It’s going to be good for the boys to get minutes in the legs before the tournament starts and it will be good to test ourselves against an opposition team that is going to be in the Asian Cup," the 26-year-old said.

"Whether we will face them or not I am not sure, but it is going to be good to come up against a team that is going to be in the tournament as well.”