Australia coach Holger Osieck was all smiles despite a less-than-convincing performance by his charges in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Thailand.

The win in Bangkok sealed the Socceroos' progress into the next round of Asian 2014 World Cup qualifying, but Australia struggled to break down a stubborn Thai defence for much of the game, before Brett Holman struck in the 78th minute to hand his side all three points.

But Osieck was choosing to remain positive immediately after the game, and claimed his players deserved credit for an impressive away record, having won two of their three qualifiers on the road.

"You have to consider we had two road games [in a row]; to play in Asia, the different countries, like the Middle East and Southeast Asia, it is always difficult," Osieck said on Fox Sports.

"It's always an adaptation and it's not going to be easy for anybody. Already for three road games we won two, which is a great achievement."

Osieck did however the Thais deserved credit for making things difficult for his charges on Tuesday.

"It was a pretty tough one today [Tuesday]. They were so well organised, they made it really difficult for us.

"We didn't move the ball quickly enough, particularly in the first half. In the second half we had more attacking aspects.

"I'm pretty pleased for the boys. Tough win, but a good win."

Australia captain Lucas Neill felt his players deserved credit for sticking to the task at hand, despite playing in front of a vocal Thai crowd.

"We had to prepare well for this game - [it was a] good crowd, we knew it was going to be tough. They threw everything at us.

"Good strength was shown by the guys today [Tuesday]. It was never going to be an easy game. We just persevered, stuck to it, showed patience and got rewarded."

Australia's final qualifier is against on February 29 against Saudi Arabia, who still run the risk of being overhauled by Oman or Thailand.