United continue their pre-season preparations tonight with a friendly match against Singapore's Under 23 National Team (the Young Lions), but club skipper Culina, and vice-captain, Michael Thwaite, still have one eye on next Wednesday's clash at Skilled Park with English Premier League outfit, Fulham.

Having skipped United's brief jaunt to Noumea where they triumphed 5-0 over New Caledonia, Culina joined his new team-mates yesterday for the trip to Asia, saying he hopes to use the six-day excursion to get to know the rest of the squad.  

"I've been waiting for a few months now to get into training with the boys here at United so I'm really looking forward to getting over to Singapore and getting started," he said.

"For me this trip is about getting to know all the other boys in the squad and having a run. The squad has been together for a while now so I'm very keen to be with them all and join in with the group - that's the most important thing for me at the moment."

Refreshed following a successful World Cup qualifying campaign with the Socceroos, Culina is likely to play some part in the games in Singapore and Hong Kong, but his first full match for United on home soil is set to be the much anticipated clash with Fulham at Skilled Park next Wednesday.

In a game where he will face his Socceroo team-mate, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, the United captain says he will be aiming to get one over his good pal.

"I'll be looking to embarrass Mark," he joked. "It's always great to play in games against top opposition and it gives you a chance to see where you fit in the scheme of things.

"So far all the friendlies and trial games have been against local opposition and even with the tour to New Caledonia and Asia, the real test for us will be when we play Fulham next week.

"It will be great for us as a squad but even greater for football fans on the Gold Coast to see a team from the English Premier League. They are a club from the top level of football who had a very good season and I encourage everyone to get to the match," Culina said.

Culina's right-hand man, Michael Thwaite, echoed the thoughts of his captain as he looked ahead to the visit of the team that finished seventh in last season's English Premier League, securing qualification to the new Europa League next term.

Thwaite said: "The Fulham game is going to be our first real test in a competitive sense. They'll be doing their own pre-season so we expect them to bring a very strong squad here.

"They have a lot of talented players and with Mark Schwarzer in goal for them it's going to make it very tough for us.

"It'll be a great test for us to see where we are at with our own preparation for the Hyundai A-League and obviously for the fans it will be a great spectacle," he said.