Former Blackburn Rovers star Lucas Neill is in danger of missing out on the World Cup 2014 according to Australian national team manager Ange Postecoglou. As the captain of the national team, Neill was expected to be picked for the World Cup, but his failure to find a club so far could ultimately cost him a place in the squad according to the manager.

Neill is without a club after leaving Omiya Ardija a month ago. Neill is reportedly coming to the end of a career where he has represented the likes of Everton, Blackburn, and West Ham.
The 35-year-old could consider quitting football after the World Cup, but the latest revelation from Postecoglou could force him into retirement much earlier than expected.

Postecoglou is expected to leave Lucas out of the team for the upcoming friendly in March. Depending upon the performance of the players, Postecoglou could decide upon his final squad. This will be the last friendly match for Australia before they take part in the World Cup where they will face the likes of Spain and Netherlands in the group stages.

Since the 2012 season, Lucas Neill has only played a handful of matches and Postecoglou says that it would not be fair on some of the young and upcoming players to continue selecting the 35-year-old.

“The message has been consistent to all the players about my expectations so I’m not going to be having series of meetings with players. Where my priorities lie is to see where players are playing and hopefully playing good football then I can sit down and watch them play and assess where they’re at. But the message is pretty clear and I don’t think it will surprise anyone that I’ll only be looking at players who are playing regularly and playing some good football,” said Postecoglou.