With a dismal showing in Version 2 of the A-League, Glory coach Ron Smith says that things are looking up for the west Australians. Last season, Glory finished seventh - just one point more than bottom-side New Zealand Knights.

“I’ve got 19 players already and I’ve got another few to fill. We’ve had players playing football because some of them hadn’t played an awful lot last year. There are a few new recruits so while we’ve been training for a couple of months now and doing some strength and conditioning work and aerobic work, we haven’t been playing games yet because we haven’t had enough bodies,” he explained.

“We’re off to Malaysia on Monday and I’m taking a few triallists with me so in the next week or two we’ll fill up the spots that we’ve still got to go.”

This year, Glory will be pitted against Asian opposition as part of their pre-season. They will face Selangor PKNS (23 June), Perak (26 June), Penang (28 June) and Police FC (30 June).

Smith believes that captain Jamie Harnwell will be in Perth colours when the season kicks off after recent speculation linked him with a move to a Europe. “Jamie is on contract. A club wanted to have a look at him over in Switzerland but to date nothing has come of that so he’ll be in the squad.” Harnwell will again be used as a striker by Smith, after a daring move mid-season last year which saw him move from his more familiar role in defence.

He is also excited at his two new strikers Mate Dragicevic and Nikita Rukavytsya. He likens Dragicevic to Mark Viduka, while Rukavytsya was recommended to the club by former player Bobby Despotovski.

“Mate is a player that has been around a few of the bigger clubs in Croatia. He played last year for a club in Russia, got promoted to the first division. I don’t think he wanted to stay there because of the weather! I’ve looked at him and I think he’ll give us another dimension so to speak. He’s a big lad, he’s a goal scorer. He’s good in the air.

“I’d liken him in the mould as Mark Viduka. He’s got good technique, he’s a big lad, reasonably mobile without being a Thierry Henry. He’s got good ability to hold the ball, he’s strong in the air and with the other players that I’ve got I think he’ll complement our attacking line-up,” he says.

“I’m pleased with the way things are going. It’s a hundred times better than last year when I walked in a month before the season kicked off and had 14 players so this year will be very different. I can’t wait to get cracking.”