DEAN HEFFERNAN had a tough time of it at Southampton, where he was taken off at half-time, but his mood will have been improved by Wednesday’s news from Brisbane.

The Town left-back’s native Australia beat Indonesia 1-0 to seal a place in January’s Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

Before that, of course, come the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer.

National coach Pim Verbeek, who avoided using European-based players against Indonesia, names his 23-man squad in May.