It was announced at the end of December the former Sydney FC midfielder would play until the end of the season.

Popovic said he was waiting until the end of Thursday’s training session to decide whether it was worth flying Antonis to their upcoming game against Melbourne City on Friday.

And after the departure of goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, Popovic said it would be likely Vedran Janjetovic will be on the bench.

“He’s getting better and better every day and we’re pleased,” Popovic said.

“He’s in better shape than I anticipated, he hasn’t played a lot of football and he didn’t do a lot of training before he arrived here.

“It’s about him getting accustomed back here, starting to sleep better so he’s getting over the jetlag…. We haven’t made a decision, we’ll wait until after training.”

Popovic was expecting City to fire up for former head coach John van’t Schip who resigned on Wednesday morning to travel back home to Holland to attend to his sick father.

Interim coach Michael Valkanis will coach the team for the remainder of this season and the Wanderers boss was wary after they were downed 4-1 in the FFA Cup Quarter-Final.

“You’d expect them to be the way they are at home - very strong,” he said.

“They’ve had a long association with John, it’s disappointing he’s left but totally understandable for the personal reason he departs the A-League.

“We wish him and his family all the best, in terms of Melbourne City I’m sure they’ll be motivated to win for the coach who has just departed.”

Former City, now Wanderers defender Jack Clisby returns to AAMI Park for the first time and was looking forward to a good game.

He also paid tribute to his former coach.

“City show good intensity and they’re full of good players. I’m excited for the challenge,” Clisby said.

“They’ve lost their manager, respect to him in the circumstances of his father and I hope it’s all speedy for his father.”