Socceroos assistant coach Rene Meulensteen will be in attendance for the clash against Nottingham Forest - with Souttar looking to squeeze in up to three Championship appearances for the Potters prior to boarding the plane to Qatar.
 
Australia’s qualification campaign stuttered and spluttered after Souttar’s injury against Saudi Arabia, and even if not fully fit he’s a certain selection in Graham Arnold’s 26-man World Cup squad, such is the esteem he’s held in.
 
“Harry's been progressing well and has been training pain free and we’re all looking forward to seeing him get back to match fitness and match rhythm,” Meulensteen told FTBL. “He’s looking good and he’s optimistic and so are we - fingers crossed we get it right just in time.
 
“He is - and always was - a very important player for us, with his power and his presence there at the back. We certainly missed him in the second part of qualifying, as you saw with some of our results.
 
"We conceded a few goals I don’t think we would have had he been playing. We dropped points which we wouldn’t have done otherwise because when you have a player with his aerial ability, who can also operate really well on the ground, that’s a terrific set of tools.”
 
Souttar was on the brink of a big-money move to the Premier League before injury cut him down, and at just 23 it’s likely that will still happen - sooner rather than later.
 
Meantime, Meulensteen views his presence in Doha next month as potentially game-changing for Australia.
 
“He was doing unbelievably well at Stoke before the injury and several big clubs were considering making offers but I’m sure his time will come in the EPL, whether with Stoke or elsewhere,” he added.
 
“Harry has such a strong mentality and determination about him that I don’t see any boundaries stopping him. He’s been dedicated and remorseless on working on his recovery and the rewards will come.”
 
In further good news for the Socceroos, fellow centre-back Kye Rowles - who broke his foot playing for Hearts back in August - could be as little as two weeks away from his anticipated comeback.
“We have a medical team here over here and they’ve been liaising with Stoke and Hearts on both boys - and the signs are all encouraging,” said Meulensteen.