Socceroos coach Graham Arnold looks set to give Lucas Neill a reprieve on the biggest stage at the Asian Cup so far, Saturday night's quarter-final against Japan.

With midfielder Luke Wilkshire suspended, Neill now has a chance for redemption after a disappointing tournament.

The West Ham defender missed the 4-0 win over Thailand through suspension himself, earning Arnold's public wrath for a needless late red card for dissent in the 3-1 loss to Iraq.

He was hopelessly out of sorts in his two Asian Cup appearances to date.

But Neill is set to slot into a back three between Mark Milligan and Michael Beauchamp for a chance to revive his finest hours - the 3-1 World Cup win over Japan in which he played superbly.

Brett Emerton, who played that role against Thailand, is likely to be moved to fill Wilkshire's wide right midfield position against the Japanese at My Dinh National Stadium.

Harry Kewell, a substitute against Thailand, and Australia's player of the tournament so far Tim Cahill, are likely to be used for impact off the bench.

Cahill scored twice against the Japanese as a substitute at the World Cup and could well be called on in similar circumstances this time around.

Extra time will come into play if scores are deadlocked at the end of 90 minutes, with a penalty shootout to follow if no break through after 30 minutes' added time.

That is a scenario the Socceroos are familiar with following their 2005 World Cup qualifier heroics against Uruguay.

They believe they have the big-match temperament required, with the sudden-death circumstances of the knockout stage perfect for men who believe they perform best with backs to the wall.

"This is do or die and that suits our character as a team," midfielder Mark Bresciano said.

"As we've seen in the past, that's when we perform at our best.

"We can step up on the big occasions.

"We don't die easily and if there's just that little possibility of winning then we're going to take it."

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