AZ Alkmaar midfielder Brett Holman is happy with how things are going for him both personally and at team level ahead of next month's World Cup.
The 26-year old, who has represented Australia close to 30 times at international level, is one of 31 players vying for a spot in Pim Verbeek's final 23 for the tournament in South Africa but he feels despite copping an injury midway through the Dutch Eredivisie season.
He said his mini break aha helped him freshen up as it gave him time to rest the body before vamping up his fitness ahead of the Socceroos training camp.
"The first half of the season I played every game in the starting eleven, I played all of the Champions League games as well so I was happy with what I did but it was unfortunate that I got an injury before Christmas and then after the winter we won almost every game until the end of the year. I still got my game time coming off the bench so I was happy with what I did this season," Holman said.
"I think it depends on what sort of player it is," he said in regards to players needing a break. "You have to see the player, sometimes he likes playing full game and game after game (but) some people like a little rest here and there and I don't mind recharging the batteries and then going again because sometimes you do need a break to rest the body."
The former NEC Nijmegen man is in Melbourne preparing for Monday night's friendly with New Zealand ahead of the teams trip to South Africa on Wednesday and is of firm belief that this match along with friendlies against Denmark and the USA are good opportunities for the players to really show their wares.
"Every player wants to be out there, especially when you are in camp you want to show what you are made of and these are the games, especially the three (friendlies) coming up that you can prove yourself to the coach that maybe you can slide into that spot or doing something better and perform well so you always want to play these games," he added.
As for their group stage opponents, Holman was treating all, particularly Serbia, with caution.
"I think with Ghana and Germany, we line up better against them in a way. I think Serbia, if you look at their players and what sort of quality they have, they are very technical players and that might be a certain amount of problem but I'm sure we can handle against all of those three teams so I can't see any problems," he concluded.