Mitchell Duke and Patrick Ziegler will both be missing from the FFA Cup clash through in the west on Wednesday night as an already diminished Wanderers squad battles with a growing injury list.

But Babbel insisted he can get more out of his squad – and was hoping his understrength team can shock former Wanderers coach Tony Popovic.

"Preparations are good," said Babbel today. "The only thing is Mitch can't play – something with his meniscus – and Patrick Ziegler can't, he's still in preparation also about his knee.

"But Kwame Yeboah is back so that's good."

He admitted though: "We are not many players but we will try to get a result in Perth.

"The young ones have improved a lot in their first year. Our training quality is much better, our training intensity is much higher. Until now, I'm happy

"Now we know we have a difficult game in front of us, first round cup against the best team last season but we go in there and try to get a result."

Wanderers moved early to snap up visa players with the arrival of Daniel Lopar in goals and Rado Majewski and Pirmin Schwegler in midfield.

But Babbel insists there is more to come to from the side.

"Daniel Lopar is feeling very comfortable here and is really enjoying how we work," said Babbel. "Pirmin and Rado are getting better and better.

"It looks very good but there is still a lot of work to do of course but we are not finished now but we are in a good way.

"Playing a team like Perth is perfect for us to know where we are. It is not a friendly, it is a cup game and we want to get to the next stage.

"We will try to do everything and after the game, we will know where we are."