Japan coach Takeshi Okada has named his squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. A 24-man squad has been named for the March 28 clash in Saitama as Japan attempt to reel in Group A leaders Australia who are two points ahead at the top of the table.

Eintracht Frankfurt's Junichi Inamoto has been omitted from Okada's squad but Nagoya Grampus goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki returns from injury.

"All matches are important, but this one that we have to fight it out for a win," Okada said.

"We need to take risks to score goals. I've picked players who have good game fitness and can give that kind of performance.

"I think Bahrain are a tough matchup for any team, not just us," Okada added.

"They don't really take the game to anyone, but their style rather is to take away your strengths and make the game difficult for you.

"You have to remember that the two matches we lost was when we had an entirely different team in our very first game, and the last time, we didn't have our full team. So despite the results, I really don't find them to be any more difficult than anyone else."

The squad is as follows:

GK: Seigo Narazaki (Grampus), Ryota Tsuzuki (Reds), Eiji Kawashima (Frontale)

DF: Shuhei Terada (Frontale), Yuji Nakazawa (Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuki Abe (Reds), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo), Yuto Nagatomo (Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Antlers)

MF:Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Hideo Hashimoto, Yasuhito Endo (Gamba), Kengo Nakamura (Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (St. Etienne), Yasuyuki Konno (Tokyo), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Mu Kanazaki (Trinita), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo)

FW:Keiji Tamada (Grampus), Yoshito Okubo (Wolfsburg), Tatsuya Tanaka (Reds), Kisho Yano (Albirex), Shinji Okazaki (S-Pulse)