“I haven’t made a decision about Australia yet,” Viduka told the Newcastle Journal in the UK. “I’m going to have a meeting with the new manager soon and we’ll discuss it.

"I’ve spoken to him on the phone and they want me to carry on playing international football. We’ll have a good chat in the New Year and we’ll see what happens from there.

"There has been talk of coming to a compromise where I won’t be asked to play in all the World Cup qualifiers. It’s pretty hectic, there are midweek games where I’d have to fly to Australia or Iraq and that takes it out of you.

“I think I’ll have to wait until I’ve spoken to him and to see exactly what would be expected of me. It’s an extremely tough decision to make. I love playing for Australia, but I also want to give my best to Newcastle.”

Viduka added: “I think the Asia Cup left me feeling jaded. It took it out of me mentally more than physically and that held me back at the start of the season, I think."

His two goals against Derby last weekend took him to five from just nine starts so far this season including a spell on the bench as he came back from injury.

"I’m starting to get back into it and these two goals will certainly help," he admitted. "Do I hate being a substitute? Hate is a strong word, but nobody likes being on the bench.

"I don’t like not being involved, but all I can do is do my best. I’ve been around long enough for people to know what I can and can’t do, I don’t think I have anything to prove.”

“As a striker I’m delighted on a personal level to score two goals, especially to come back into the side after a spell on the bench, but the shine has been taken off by the fact we’ve not won the game. The edge has definitely been taken off the celebrations because we’ve not got all three points.

“We’ve scored two goals against Derby but we’re probably not making the most out of the chances we are creating at the moment.

"That’s something we need to address, but we’ve also got a problem conceding goals and we’ve had it all season. I don’t know what we do to remedy that. You’re asking the wrong person, I’ve not even got my coaching licence yet.”