Robbie Kruse has officially ruled himself out of contention for Australia's 2014 World Cup squad.
The 25-year old Bayer Leverkusen winger tore his anterior cruciate ligament in January which forced him to undergo surgery and spend time on the sidelines recuperating.
Weeks after the injury occurred, Kruse still held hope of pushing for Socceroos selection for Brazil 2014 but more recently, he has opted not to thrust himself towards the spotlight as he would rather a less debilitated player to take his place.
"My main objective is to be back next season," Kruse told die Werkself's official website bayer04.de.
"I don't want to go to the World Cup just to sit on the bench, wanting to play. If I can't play I don't want to take the position of another player who can do a better job than me."
Kruse, who joined Leverkusen from Fortuna Dusseldorf in April 2013, admitted it was a struggle to try and get back to full fitness but insisted that he was focused on getting himself right prior to the 2014/15 Bundesliga campaign.
"The first one month is quite boring and long," said the former Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory forward.
"You've got do all the basics, but I know all the foundations are being laid then and after the first month is done, I can start to get gradually better and better and start doing more things."
He added further: "It's quite difficult mentally, but I've got lots of support here so hopefully it will continue.
"It was disappointing and I was very upset. I'd been training so well, but life goes on. I've got to work hard and try to come back."
Since arriving at the BayArena, Kruse has scored two goals in 15 league appearances for a total of three goals from 21 outings for Leverkusen.
