Josh Kennedy's ongoing back injury could force him out of the Australian squad for next month's Asian Cup in Qatar. The Nagoya Grampus striker shared this season's J-League Golden Boot award with Jubilo Iwata's Ryoichi Maeda as his side took out the Japanese title but he missed matches late in the season because of the problem.

Recent reports have suggested that Kennedy has returned to Australia ad is having daily physiotherapy to help with the issue in the hope of reaching a level of fitness that will have Socceroos boss Holger Osieck happy to take him to the Middle East.

Australia are up against South Korea, India and Bahrain in the group stage of the 2011 Asian Cup which kicks off on January 7.