APIA Leichhardt president Tony Raciti and South Melbourne coach Peter Tsolakis were this week quoted wishing the best for D'Apuzzo and Trifiro respectively, claiming the players had earned contracts with the A-League new boys.

But Popovic told au.fourfourtwo.com that both players remain trialists for tonight's clash with Blacktown Spartans at Blacktown International Sportspark at 7.30pm.

“They haven't signed,” he said. “No one has signed, we're still on the same nine players.

"Those boys are back for another game because they did well last week and decisions will be made on them on Thursday or Friday.”

But Popovic didn't distance himself from the pair, hinting they are well in contention along with other players such as Joey Gibbs, who scored four in the Wanderers' first ever match against Nepean FC last week.

“Are we happy with them, did we want to see them again? Yes, and there are some other boys in the same boat, the same as Joey,” he said.

The 5-0 win over Nepean FC showed positive signs for Popovic, who is simultaneously trying to condition his current players, implement a playing style and assess the Wanderers wannabes.

The rookie coach said he had no choice but to keep fighting on all fronts as he took charge for just his second match in the top job.

“There's not enough numbers in the squad so we have to be conscious about getting the right players in who fit into our structure," he said.

“We want to play a quick-passing possession-based game and we have to put the trialists through their paces and see if they can adapt and play that style of football.

“But it's still about getting the players fit and slowly building them towards that first game.”

Popovic has been extremely patient in the construction of his inaugural squad, to the extent that one trialist, Dylan Macallister, was scooped up by Melbourne Heart before the Wanderers could make a decision.

The former Socceroos defender insisted he would not be rushed by the threat of other clubs swooping but he promised progress would be made in the next seven days.

“That risk is always there," he admitted. "Clubs always have a right to offer a player a contract. I can't change that or stop that.

“We've still got a process that we go through and if I'm comfortable offering a contract to a trialist I will.

“There's new guys coming in and out all the time, there's players who have been there for a couple of weeks, there's guys who played last week who we're going to have another look at (against Spartans).

“We're going to have to make decisions on some of these players at the end of this week or early next week.

“We had a foreign player last week (former Algerian international Salim Arrache) and we tried to get a couple more to trial this week but it's not always easy getting them over with visas and so forth.

“We hope to have some foreigners that we missed out on this week with us next week for the next trial game.”

Amid the constant interest surrounding the club's signings for their first season, there hasn't been much focus on Popovic's own journey as one of the first of the Socceroos' golden generation – along with Heart's John Aloisi – to take the coaching reins in the A-League.

The Nepean match was Popovic's first outing in charge of his own team and he said he's loving every minute of the challenge.

“It was the first time last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “It was great to see all the fans out there which was unexpected.

“We were pleasantly surprised to see so many people turn out and support the new club and what we're trying to build here.

“I'm just enjoying being out on the field with players and working within the club in the off-field roles we have.

“People that have experience in starting up a club, before they did it, they didn't have that experience either.

“It's a first time job for me whether it's starting a club from scratch or joining an established club. Each club has different challenges and different pressures and you just take the job on its merit.”