Spiranovic out of Socceroos qualifiers

Matthew Spiranovic has been ruled out of the Socceroos' vital World Cup qualifiers against Tajikistan and Jordan later this month with a calf injury.

Fellow defender Alex Wilkinson has been called in to replace the 27-year-old, who missed last weekend's match for his Chinese club Hangzhou Greentown.

"Matthew has picked up a minor calf strain that kept him out of his game last weekend so it is best that he stays in China to get the injury right," Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou said.

While Postecoglou will lose 30 games of international experience due to Spiranovic's injury, Wilkinson was a key member of Australia's 2014 World Cup campaign and has 16 caps to his name.

"One of the advantages of creating depth in this squad over the last two years is the ability to not have to take risks with players who have an injury and we will not lose anything by having Alex come into the squad for these two crucial matches," said the Socceroos coach.

Australia host Tajikistan at the Adelaide Oval on March 24, before moving to Sydney's Allianz Stadium five days later for the clash with Jordan.