Perth coach Dave Mitchell has indicated the Glory would be interested in Derby defender Andy Todd.
Speaking exclusively to Sportal, Mitchell said 34-year-old former Blackburn captain Todd would be a quality addition, capable of filling one of the central defensive positions vacated through the departures of Hayden Foxe, Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Dino Djulbic.
“The boy Andy Todd, whose playing at Derby, we’ve been interested in him,” Mitchell confirmed.
Todd previously enjoyed stints at Middlesbrough, Bolton and Charlton, before moving to Blackburn in 2002, winning Rovers’ player of the year award twice and becoming club captain in 2004-05.
He transferred to Derby, though, for the disastrous 2007-08 Premiership campaign, which saw the Rams relegated back to the Championship and was subsequently loaned to League One outfit Northampton until January this year.
Todd has since returned to Derby but has now been linked with a move to Australia as his contract with the Rams expires this summer.
Todd’s Derby team-mate, Socceroo Mile Sterjovski, is another player linked to a Hyundai A-League return, Mitchell saying he’d love to have a player with skills like Sterjovski’s as a replacement for departed striker Nikita Rukavytsya, who transferred to Dutch club FC Twente last January.
Mitchell previously coached Sterjovski at Sydney in the old National Soccer League, developing him as a player before he headed to Europe.
“I coached Mile before when I won the League (NSL) with Sydney and I used him as a striker,” Mitchell said.
“Mile’s like Nikita only seven years more developed and he’s been in Europe so is more refined and just as quick and quite lethal when he plays up front.”
Derby club fanzines have suggested Sterjovski could leave Pride Park after being overlooked midway through the season, but Mitchell believes a change in manager may have convinced him to remain in England.
“Nigel Clough came in and he likes Mile, so he’s got another year on his contract too, so with the managerial change, it could inhibit him coming back to Australia,” Mitchell said.
The Glory coach is currently in Europe on a scouting mission and was able to see Sterjovski score for Derby in a 3-2 loss to Wolverhampton on Easter Monday, the result seeing the club remain in danger of relegation from the Championship.
Mitchell was also keeping a close eye on Premiership-bound Wolverhampton as the Glory will play Mick McCarthy’s men in a pre-season friendly in July ahead of the new Hyundai A-League season beginning in early August.
With 26 wins from 44 Championship matches, Wolverhampton has already been guaranteed promotion to the Premier League for next season.
The Glory, though, will start their campaign with a first-up trip to Hindmarsh Stadium to play last season’s runner-up Adelaide United on August 6.
