Kilkenny signed for City towards the end of July, arriving from Championship side Preston North End and looked to reinvigorate his career after making 13 appearances in England last season.

City have boosted their A-League Premiership and Championship chances this season with the signing of Socceroo legend Tim Cahill.

Kilkenny and Cahill are two of six key signings made in the off-season - Fernando Brandan (Atletico Temperley), Luke Brattan (Manchester City loan), Bruce Kamau (Adelaide United) and Manny Muscat (Wellington Phoenix).

“You don’t want to go into a season thinking ‘we’ll come second, third or fourth’, you want to go in and go for everything,” Kilkenny said.

“We’ve got a good squad here, good players before Timmy came in and he’s added to a long list of good players. Hopefully we can go one step further this season than last season.

“It’s my first time playing A-League, I’m really looking forward to it, I’m really excited and it’s a new way of playing football.”

Kilkenny and Cahill played together in the Socceroos, notably the 2011 Asian Cup.

Pressure is on the 30-year-old as he will be relied on heavily as a playmaker for Cahill and star striker Bruno Fornaroli this season.

Kilkenny said Cahill needed to keep an eye on his fitness before playing in City’s next fixture in the FFA Cup Round of 16 clash away to Brisbane Strikers next Wednesday.

“The Socceroos connection, it helps to get him into the group, he knows a few of the lads here who have played in Socceroos with him and it’ll help him,” he said.

“I’m sure if we weren’t here he’d still settle in well, the lads are all welcoming, they helped me settle straight away and I’m sure he’d do the same thing.

“He’s (Cahill) coming back into the group, he needs to be gently moved in and I’m sure he will be. Every footballer loves to be on the pitch and I know he loves to be on the pitch like any other footballer.

“He looked good and with a couple more training sessions with the group and a bit more fitness, I’m sure he’ll help the group massively.”