Soccer-No panic stations for under-pressure Socceroos - Cahill

MELBOURNE, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Striker Tim Cahill has dismissed Australia's World Cup qualifying defeat by Jordan as a blip and is confident the Socceroos can steer their way through to the next phase. Last month's surprise 2-0 loss in Amman left Australia second behind Jordan in Group B of Asian qualifying and another slip up could place their hopes of playing at Russia 2018 on a knife-edge. Only the top team in each of the eight groups and the four best runners-up advance to the next phase of qualifying. Australia, on nine points and four behind Jordan, play Kyrgyzstan (8 points) at home in Canberra on Thursday, with Bangladesh (1 point) to follow in Dhaka on Nov. 17. The Socceroos will complete the group fixtures with home ties against Tajikistan and Jordan in March. "We've lost one game in the handful of games that we've played -- it's not panic stations," Cahill told reporters in Canberra on Monday. "It was away to Jordan. We would have liked at least to get a draw from it, and we didn't. We're looking forward, and I hope we can put it right as soon as possible. We had a wake-up call against Jordan, which is probably something we needed. "I'm always confident in this group of lads and also the staff, purely because of what we've achieved in the past and what's expected of us in the future," he added of a side that have qualified for the last three World Cups. "We're under a little bit of pressure but it's nothing we haven't faced in the past... We can only put it right by getting a win." Australia coach Ange Postecoglou should expect maximum points from the remaining fixtures and will have been buoyed by the return of captain Mile Jedinak and goalkeeper Mat Ryan after the pair missed the last few qualifiers through injury. However, the Socceroos have suffered a blow with the loss of stalwart centre back Matthew Spiranovic to a calf injury. Alex Wilkinson and Trent Sainsbury are among the candidates to replace Spiranovic in the starting side against Kyrgyzstan, who battled hard in the 2-1 defeat to Australia in Bishkek in June. "Kyrgyzstan on the counter-attack are very good. (They have) a lot of technical players, the wingers, the midfield is stacked, defensively they were very strong," said 35-year-old Cahill, Australia's most prolific striker with 41 goals. "We know we're going to be up against a tough one in Kyrgyzstan, whether we're playing at home or not." (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)