He said the rapid rise of Curtis Good, who secured a move to the English Premier League with Newcastle United on the back of his A-League breakthrough with Melbourne Heart, shows just how crucial first team football is for their development.

Japan's U-20s are featuring regularly in the J2 League, or in the case of gun 18-year-old striker Yuya Kubo, starring in the J. League proper.

That senior experience contributed in no small part to Japan's 5-0 defeat of Okon's Young Socceroos in the recent qualifying tournament for the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship.

“They had a player who played J. League last year, their striker, and he was outstanding,” Okon told au.fourfourtwo.com of Kubo, the Kyoto Sanga super talent who scored in the Emporer's Cup semi-final and final last year.

“All their other players are playing regularly in the J2 League. At the moment we have maybe only one player in the A-League in (Sydney FC midfielder) Terry Antonis, but he has had injury problems in the last year.

“So we don't have anyone who is playing regular A-League. And when we go to major tournaments that shows.

“I go back to the start of the Olyroos campaign and we only had three players playing regular A-League. It makes a big difference. It's senior football.

“If I look at Curtis Good, 12 months ago he was in the training squad but he didn't make the final cut for the Young Socceroos to go to the U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

“Then I think he played around 14 games in the A-League for Melbourne Heart and now he's with an EPL club.

“With this group now there are a number of players on the edge and if they can make that breakthrough that improvement will happen.”

The former Socceroo takes his side to the UAE in November for the AFC U-19 Championship, which doubles as qualifying for next year's U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Okon said that with the National Youth League up and running there are no obvious structural changes he would make to help Australian youngsters see more game time before November, but instead put the onus on A-League coaches to keep trusting in youth and on the players themselves to “stand up” and demand selection.

“I hope that A-League coaches look at youth before they look elsewhere,” he said. “I'm sure they all do that. I know there are clubs whose philosophy is promoting youth.

“If I look at it from a selfish point of view I wish all of them were getting opportunities but these boys who are on the edge, they need to stand up.

“A lot of coaches are under pressure, they need to come up with results, and the one thing you have with young players is inconsistency so there's always that risk of throwing in young players.

“That's why the guys who are on the fringe need to stand up and show that consistency.”

One player who will soon be on A-League radars is Ben Garuccio of the AIS, the youngest member of the squad Okon took to Indonesia for the U-22 qualifiers.

Okon highlighted the attacker as the player who most exceeded expectations at the tough tournament where the team had to play five matches in ten days in extreme conditions.

“The real find and surprise was the way Ben Garuccio performed and handled himself,” Okon said.

“He's just gone for his driver's licence, he's just turned 17. In the first game against Indonesia we played in front of 50,000 people and he's used to playing against ACT sides in front of 50 people.

“The step up we thought may have been a little bit too big for him but he proved that it's not age but what you've got inside.

"He delivered all throughout the tournament so we're delighted for him and we're delighted to have a kid with a big future ahead of him.”