Mathew Ryan’s World Cup dream is on hold after Australia missed out on automatic qualification.
The Socceroos beat Thailand 2-1 in Melbourne but were pipped to second place in the group by Saudi Arabia, who beat Japan.
Australia now face a two-leg play-off with Syria next month with the winners then meeting opposition from North or Central America or the Caribbean in November.
Albion fans will be more concerned for now with Ryan getting back fresh and well rested from a game which finished Down Under at 1pm yesterday BST.
Shane Duffy, on target in Georgia on Saturday, had the ball in the net again for Republic of Ireland in Dublin last night.
But his early effort was disallowed for offside as the Irish went down 1-0 to a Serbia side who finished with ten men.
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