Injuries forced in-form Scott McDonald from Australia's strike force to miss their crucial World Cup qualifier against China on Wednesday.

According to the latest news on www.footballaustralia.com.au, the 25-year-old striker of Celtic, who scored his 26th goal of the season in the 3-0 victory over Gretna on Sunday in the Scottish Premier League, was replaced in the 62nd minute and it was confirmed after the match that his calf injury was too severe for him to make a trip to China three days later.

The Celtic forward was added to Socceroos' long injury list after his new strike partner Josh Kennedy, midfield trio Brett Emerton, Tim Cahill and Mile Sterjovski were all deemed to miss the clash.

The newly-built forward partners' quit paved the way for the experienced Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson to lead the line for the gold and green. Other choices in Kunming for Dutch Pim Verbeek were Sydney FC's Mark Bridge and Adelaide United's Bruce Djite, who both earned their international debuts after playing in due level in the 0-0 tie against Singapore on last Saturday.

Australia, who took part in the Asian zone qualifiers for the first time, whitewashed Qatar 3-0 at home in their first group match, while China earned a 1-1 away tie with 2007 Asian champions Iraq. The socceroos will meet the challenge from Serb Dujkovic's side at a nearly 1,895-meter-height altiplano on Wednesday afternoon.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2008)