Irvine missed his German club St Pauli’s 1-1 draw on Monday (AEST) with Bayer Leverkusen because of a stress reaction in his left foot. St Pauli manager Alexander Blessin seemed hopeful, rather than confident, that club captain Irvine would return before the end of the Bundesliga season on May 17. “With Jacko, we’re not ready to write him off for the entire season – it’s a micro-fracture,” Blessin said. Socceroos coach Tony Popovic will also be sweating on the fitness of 32-year-old Irvine – the cornerstone of Australia’s midfield – ahead of the national team’s clash with Japan in Perth on June 5 and the game against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on June 11 (AEST). The Socceroos are in a strong position to seal qualification to next year’s World Cup, but the loss of Irvine would be a blow. In better news for the Socceroos, goalkeeper Joe Gauci returned from a hip injury in his English League One club Barnsley’s 1-1 weekend draw with Peterborough. Gauci, who is on loan to Barnsley from Premier League club Aston Villa, made his first appearance since February 22. “Been a while, happy to be back,” Gauci posted on social meeting after his return. Gauci missed the Socceroos’ wins over Indonesia and China last month, with national captain Mat Ryan starting between the posts in both matches. Ryan’s French club Lens beat Brest 3-1 on Monday to move to eighth place on the Ligue One ladder. Fellow gloveman Paul Izzo, who remains uncapped despite being a member of recent Socceroos squads, was part of the Randers team lost 4-3 on Tuesday morning (AEST) to Brondby in a Danish Superliga playoff. Socceroos striker Mohamed Toure also started for Randers, who again meet Brondby on Saturday.