Socceroos won't hit panic button By Dominic Bossi Amman JORDAN 2 AUSTRALIA 0 I t's hardly the position the Socceroos thought they would be in come the halfway mark of their first World Cup qualifying stage, but it doesn't mean Russia is out of their reach.
Despite suffering a shock 2-0 defeat away to Jordan on Thursday night (Friday morning AEDT), Australia are still on track to reach the third stage of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. 
The upset means Jordan leapfrog Australia to first place in their group with four games remaining.
Only the top team from each group gains automatic progression to the third stage of qualifying in Asia though four of the eight best second-placed teams will join them in the final group stages.
As things stand today, Australia are one of those with nine points from four games and a healthy goal difference of plus seven.
However, the danger lies in matters falling outside of Australia's control should they fail to finish in top spot.
Of the eight second-placed teams, only two points split all eight and a goal difference spread of only six goals makes for a nervous finish.
With three of their next four qualifiers in Australia, where they play Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at home, and only minnows Bangladesh away, there is a confidence they can regain their top spot and progress automatically.
"Of course, there's a long way to go," Massimo Luongo said.
"There's only two points and we're confident that we'll win every other game. If you're not confident, you shouldn't be in the squad. There's still a long way to go."
The defeat in Amman was a wake-up call to the Asian Champions, who were twice punished on the counter against a disciplined side searching for only a result and not the performance.
Substance won over style as Australia's quick-passing game failed to penetrate the Jordanian's but coach Ange Postecoglou vowed to continue on the path of playing positive football throughout the remainder of the campaign.
"It's one result," he said. "So far it's been working pretty well, tonight was a test, we didn't pass that test. We've obviously got to look at that and find the reasons why."
Defender Jason Davidson says the loss to Jordan has put the Socceroos on alert for the remainder of this stage of qualifiers.
However, there's no denying the sentiment within the camp that the hardest part of this group is now past Australia, who have survived two of three tough road trips.
At home, they hope, everything will be easier.
"Losing today, that changes up the table, it just makes everything closer," Davidson said. "For us, we have to make sure when we go home, we've got three home games coming up so those home games are going to be crucial for us.
"We need to make sure we get maximum points out of them."
Australia's next qualifier takes place in Canberra against Kyrgyzstan on   November 12, before they are scheduled to play Bangladesh in Dhaka five days later.
That match is still no certainty to go ahead due to security concerns.
AT A GLANCE World Cup Qualification AFC Group B: JORDAN 2 (Hassan Abdel-Fattah 47 pen, Hamza Aldaradreh 84) bt AUSTRALIA 0 at International Stadium, Amman. Crowd: 13,000. Referee: Masaaki Toma.