Hibs striker Maclaren axed from Australia World Cup squad

In-form Hibernian striker Jamie Maclaren was axed from Australia's World Cup squad Tuesday as coach Bert van Marwijk trimmed it to 26 players, with Bristol City skipper Bailey Wright also cut.

Long-term backup goalkeeper Mitch Langerak was another to miss out in the cut to the initial 32 selected last week, along with Alex Gersbach, Apostolos Giannou, and Aleksandar Susnjar.

But Tim Cahill and fellow veteran Mark Milligan made the grade, keeping them on track for a fourth appearance at the football showpiece in Russia.

"It is always a challenging task to reduce a squad, however this is the nature of professional sport at the highest level," said van Marwijk.

"Overall, I believe we have named a strong and ambitious squad for our training camp in Turkey and friendly against the Czech Republic in Austria."