Ange Postecoglou is unlikely to get ahead of himself.

But he would know the Socceroos are set to reach the next round of World Cup qualifying, even though five matches remain in the current phase.

Three of those five matches will be at home and while Asia’s finest teams are always competitive here, those that aren’t among the region’s best tend to be overwhelmed when facing the Socceroos in Australia.

Even Jordan, Australia’s strongest opponent in this current group (and ranked 9th in Asia), capitulated in Melbourne against an ageing Aussie side two years ago.

The Socceroos have maximum points from their three games so far with the bonus that two of those matches were potential banana skins: June’s trip to Kyrgyzstan and last night’s encounter in Tajikistan.

These were new destinations with lengthy travel routes. Throw in unfamiliar playing surfaces and unknown opponents who are ready for the game of their lives in front of a passionate home crowd (Australia is one of the best teams they’re ever likely to face) and you have all the ingredients for upsets.

The Kyrgyz could have drawn or beaten Australia three months ago but their wastefulness in attack let them down. Last night Tajikistan defended desperately and kept the Socceroos scoreless for nearly an hour. Wins in those matches may have been expected but certainly couldn’t be taken for granted.

Australia now leads the group by two points as Kyrgyzstan held Jordan to a draw last week.

The Socceroos’ next match is against the second-placed Jordanians (on 8 October) and, when the draw was made, it looked like being the toughest fixture in the group. Indeed, they beat Australia 2-1 in Amman three years ago.

But this will be a more familiar assignment too. Travelling to the Middle East is a lot easier and the Socceroos have become used to playing qualifiers in that part of the world.

Then the last four matches should be straightforward. Three will be in Australia and the only away game will be against Bangladesh, the group’s weakest team.

Even though this group has five countries, only the winner is guaranteed a place in Asia’s next qualifying round and the teams that don’t reach that are out of the 2018 World Cup. Had Australia not made the perfect start, there might have been some anxiety before the trip to Jordan.

A draw in Jordan would be enough to keep the Socceroos in a strong position in the group but a win would carry a benefit beyond extending Australia’s lead at the top of the table to five points – it would help boost the team’s ranking. Rankings will be used to seed countries in the next round of Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou

Australia currently sits 4th in Asia (behind Iran, South Korea and Japan) and wouldn’t want to drop any lower.

Only 12 countries make it to the next phase and they’re divided into two groups. In each of those groups the top two teams qualify for the World Cup.

As long as Australia is ranked in Asia’s top four, it can only be grouped with one of Iran, South Korea or Japan. But dropping out of the top four might mean being drawn against two of those teams and that would make qualification more difficult.

Just as encouraging as Australia’s unblemished record in 2018 qualifiers so far is the settled look the team has and, as I mentioned a week ago, its youth. The squad for these last two games was weakened by injuries to more experienced players but with that came the opportunity to bring talented young replacements in.

Tougher tests await on the long road to Russia so Postecoglou would have been pleased to have more of the younger players together now.

Paul Marcuccitti’s soccer column is published in InDaily on Mondays. He is a co-presenter of 5RTI’s Soccer on 531 program which can be heard from 11am on Saturdays.