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The Wanderers made a promising start to life as the league's newcomers and looked more than impressive in securing a 0-0 draw against last season's minor premiers Central Coast on Saturday night.

In front of a healthy 10,458 fans at a drenched Parramatta Stadium, the Wanderers created the better chances and would have taken all three points if not for the exploits of Mariners keeper Mat Ryan. 

But Popovic can be proud of his side's first-up effort which should dispel any fears they would struggle in their inaugural A-League campaign.

"It was an historic day, an emotional day for a lot of people involved with setting up the club, the administrators, the chairman, the board, it was a special day for everyone," Popovic said.

"We would have liked to have won the game but it's a solid start against a very good side who have proven themselves in this league the last two years.

"We're pleased to get something out of this first game and now we can build and improve and get better as we go along.

"You have to wait until you get to eight or nine games and a third of the season's gone before you have a better reflection how the team's travelling.

"But for now it's not about form. It was just a one-off game and a special day for us against a very good side. We got a result, showed we can compete at this level and it's a decent day for us."

Given most of the Wanderers squad had only trained together for a little over a month, it was a remarkably measured and fluent display from the home side.

Strikers Mark Bridge and Labinot Haliti were both denied by brilliant saves from Ryan either side of the break while Croatian Dino Kresinger wasted a glorious opportunity at the death.

Asked if he was surprised by his side's composed debut, Popovic said: "We set ourselves high expectations.

"We said we would be competitive from the first day we took on this project and we had no doubt we would be.

"You never know how game will go and how the result will go but our expectations were met in terms of how competitive we were and the performance level we put in. It doesn't surprise anyone in our dressing room."

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for former Japanese international Shinji Ono, who came off the bench for the final 30 minutes.

The 33-year-old, who only arrived in Sydney on Monday, showed glimpses of his undoubted ability and Popovic is excited by what he can offer the side once he settles into his new surrounds.

"He was good when he came on and he had some good touches," the Wanderers boss said of Ono.

"He's got to adapt to a different style of football. It's a different country, different culture and he's been great for us this week.

"He showed glimpses of the quality he has and we're not surprised with what he showed."

The Wanderers next travel to Hindmarsh Stadium to play Adelaide United next Friday night.