To see today's training session...

Last season, the state leagues were a treasure trove of A-League talent with the likes of Pedj Bojic (Mariners), Brendan Gan (Sydney) and Manny Muscat (Phoenix) stepping up.

FC star Shannon Cole of Sydney Olympic was the pick of this bunch and Lavicka is hoping to unearth a similar gem.

 "We have time to recognise these players," he said after his first training session today. "We'll see, maybe we'll have a look at some good players [from the NSW league] and we can invite them for a test and maybe for the contract signing."

One such game is against Macarthur Rams on Wednesday May 13. Lavicka has also been a regular at NSW games in the last couple of weeks as he looks to scout the best local talent.

There are at least two more signings to be made with a central defender and a left sided defender on the sky blues' list.

It's likely these could come from Europe - particularly in the centre of defence - but the Czech supremo is keeping his options open.

And the coach was pleased with what he saw from today's session. "I'm happy. I have a positive good feeling," he said.

"We will have [fitness] testing next week. We have to do that professionally. I will recognise their fitness."

Lavicka preceded today's first session with what he called an "entry" talk where the 45-year-old outlined his philosophy to the players.

Clearly, the Sydney players were keen to impress. There was an intensity at training that was lacking last year under John Kosmina.

The entire session was based around the ball with sharp passing drills followed by a game played on one half of the pitch.

Simon Colosimo played as a central defender in the training match and underlined his class in that position. Steve Corica, however, was restricted to light jogging.

The coach added that his main goal was to improve the side "little by little, step by step".

To see today's training session...