Scotland will warm up for next month's World Cup qualifiers with a friendly against Australia at Easter Road on Wednesday night.
Rhodes prepares for first start; Naismith and Fox back in action
Scotland will warm up for next month's World Cup qualifiers with a friendly against Australia at Easter Road on Wednesday night.
Craig Levein's men, drawn in Group A of qualifying, open their campaign against Serbia next month before taking on Macedonia.
Ahead of those encounters the Scots will face the Socceroos for the first time since 2000, when the visitors ran out 2-0 winners at Hampden Park.
Holger Osieck's side, ranked 23rd in the FIFA rankings ahead of 46th-placed Scotland, are also gearing up for another World Cup qualifier next month against Jordan, having garnered two points from two games so far.
Team news
Steven Naismith and Danny Fox will both end their Scotland absences by starting against Australia.
Everton forward Naismith has not played a competitive match since suffering cruciate ligament damage while playing for Rangers in October last year, but scored a first-half hat-trick in a pre-season friendly against AEK Athens at Goodison Park.
Fox's sole Scotland cap came in the 3-0 defeat by Wales in November 2009 that spelled the end of George Burley's time in charge.
The former Celtic defender's Scotland career looked to have been short-lived but he won a recall after helping Southampton clinch promotion to the Premier League.
And he could be in line to face Serbia in Scotland's opening qualifier next month after Sunderland announced Phil Bardsley would need ankle surgery.
Another candidate, Norwich full-back Steven Whittaker, is out with ankle ligament damage and Lee Wallace has fallen down the pecking order after pledging his future to Rangers in the Third Division.
Charlie Mulgrew is another candidate for the left-back role and could come off the bench at Easter Road.
Manager Levein, who confirmed on Tuesday that Jordan Rhodes would start up front, looks set to experiment with captain Gary Caldwell in midfield, although the Wigan defender has played there before for his country.
Andy Webster retains his place in central defence despite struggling in the 5-1 defeat by the USA in May.
Debut
Allan McGregor continues in goal but Levein has promised Matt Gilks his debut at some stage.
Alan Hutton and Christophe Berra also line up in defence.
Charlie Adam, Robert Snodgrass and James Morrison join Caldwell and Naismith in midfield, while Rhodes is up front after hitting 48 goals for Huddersfield and Scotland Under 21s.
English-based Mark Schwarzer and Brett Holman are likely to start for the Socceroos but veteran duo Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill will not be involved.
Scotland team to face Australia: McGregor, Hutton, Webster, Berra, Fox, Snodgrass, Caldwell, Morrison, Adam, Rhodes, Naismith.
