Yossi Benayoun has been left out of Israel's 23-man squad for the first two Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Having recovered from a muscle strain, Benayoun had made his debut for Maccabi Haifa over the weekend and expressed the hope he would be selected after playing throughout the 3-1 victory over Hapoel Petah Tikva.

But he was overlooked for the matches away to Cyprus on October 10 and Andorra three days later. Manager Eli Guttman is expected to name Charlton's Tal Ben Haim as captain.

With Dudu Awat retired, it is unclear whether Maccabi Netanya's Ariel Haroush or Kiryat Shmona's Guy Haimov will be preferred in goal.

Former Genk striker Elyaniv Barda was surprise inclusion after scoring a hat-trick in Hapoel Beer Sheva's 3-2 win over champions Maccabi Tel Aviv, while former Chelsea striker Ben Sahar, now with Willem in Holland is recalled.

SQUAD:

Goalkeepers:
Ariel Haroush (Maccabi Netanya)
Guy Haimov (Kiryat Shmona)
Ofir Marciano (Ashdod)

Defenders:
Rami Gershon (Gent)
Avi Raikan (Zurich)
Tal Ben Haim (Charlton)
Omri Ben Haroush (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Eitan Tibi (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Hatem Abed Alhamair (Ashdod)
Eyal Meshumar (Maccabi Haifa)
Thaleb Tuatha (Maccabi Haifa)

Midfield:
Sharon Yeini (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Gili Vermout (Hapoel Tel Aviv)
Bibras Natkho (CSKA Moscow)
Nir Biton (Celtic)
Eran Zahavi (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Maor Buzaglo (Hapoel Beersheva)

Forwards:
Itay Shechter (Nantes)
Tomer Hemed (Almeida)
Ben Sahar (Willem)
Elyaniv Barda (Hapoel Beersheva)
Toto Tamuz (Petrolul Ploiesti)
Moanes Dabour (Grasshoppers)