Former Inglewood United junior Nikita Rukavytsya has been named in Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou’s extended squad for the upcoming Asian Cup. Rukavytsya, who recently signed with A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers, is joined on the 46-player list by fellow West Australians’ Daniel De Silva, Josh Risdon, Trent Sainsbury, Brad Jones, Adam Taggart, Chris Herd and Rhys Williams.

Rukavytsya, 27, was based at Inglewood as a teenager before embarking on a successful professional career. He rose to prominence at Perth Glory, scoring 20 times across two summers and gaining national youth team honours. An early 2009 switch to Dutch club FC Twente was followed by spells at Roseelare, Hertha Berlin, Mainz 05 and FSV Frankfurt.

Rukavytsya has represented the Socceroos on 13 occasions since debuting in mid-2009 against the Republic of Ireland. He was part of the Socceroos 2010 World Cup squad, featuring against Germany and Ghana, and put away his first senior international goal in late 2012 against South Korea. Rukavytsya will be pulling out all the stops to convince Postecoglou he deserves a spot in his coach’s final 23-player Asian Cup squad.