Ghana's Rajevac wary of wounded Socceroos

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has warned his players to beware an Australian backlash as the Black Stars aim to book their passage to the last 16 today.

The Socceroos are smarting from a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany in which their most important player, Tim Cahill, was red-carded, ruling him out of today's Group D clash.

After their 1-0 win over Serbia in their opener, Ghana could be in a position to emulate the 2006 squad and advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. Australia must win to revive their chances of progress.

"It's going to be a very difficult match," Rajevac said.

"This is the match of the season for us. We have to prepare well and concentrate because nothing is over before the final whistle.

"For Australia this is their last chance and they will give their best. We all know how competitive Australia is as a nation, they will do everything they can to get a win."

Australia have beaten Ghana four times in the five meetings between the two countries but they go into this meeting in Rustenberg struggling to rebuild morale with the loss to Germany and the suspension of Cahill compounded by savage criticism back home. There have also been rumours of a rift between players and under-fire Dutch coach Pim Verbeek.

Veteran winger Kewell has rubbished such talk and insisted he had no problems with Verbeek's decision to leave him out.

"He's the boss and you do what your boss says. It is a shame that people don't get that into their thick heads," Kewell said.

Kewell has played just a couple of minutes for Galatasaray this year but has declared himself fit for the clash with Ghana.

"I feel good and if I'm in the team I'll do my country proud like any other player would," he said.

While Australia are set to ring the changes, Ghana will field a very similar line-up to the one that beat Serbia 1-0 thanks to Asamoah Gyan's 84th-minute penalty.

The only change Rajevac could make is to bring in Sulley Muntari at the expense of Andre Ayew, the son of Ghana legend Abedi Pele who was surprisingly picked ahead of Muntari for the Group D opener.

Key to match
• This contest could be all about energy levels. Australia's ageing defence was badly exposed against Germany. But will the combination of some fresh legs and Aussie pride be enough against a Ghana side riding high after their win over Serbia.