Perth Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic says Saturday night’s clash with Celtic will be a good indication of how the new-look side is coming together.
The Glory have gone through a bigger renovation than anything on The Block during the long break between campaigns, bringing in numerous new faces for old ones as the club looks to put a tumultuous last season behind them.
Indeed, after winning three of the first give games last year, the Glory managed just two victories from then on as they slumped to second last on the Hyundai A-League table and were only kept off the bottom by the now defunct North Queensland Fury.
One of the new faces to arrive in Western Australia is goalkeeper Vukovic, who’s made the move from Wellington Phoenix.
Vukovic joins the likes of new international signings Liam Miller (Hibernian, Sunderland) and Bas van den Brink (Gold Coast United), along with a host of other big name arrivals like Shane Smeltz (GCU), Evan Berger (Melbourne Victory) and Neil Young (Newcastle Jets).
But the 26-year-old is only too well aware, like many Glory fans, that a team of champions doesn’t equate to a champion team and as a result he says it’s important for the side to have some big-game tests in order to start running smoothly, beginning with Celtic this weekend.
“Celtic are one of the most recognisable teams in the world and to be able to play against them is going to be a great thrill for everyone involved with the club,” said Vukovic on Monday.
“Everyone’s very excited. It’s a good test for us. We can pit against some of the best players in the world.”
“Obviously, more than half the team’s new to this club, so we need to work on things and now play a lot of games to gel as well as possible.”
“(But) we’ve been working hard the last nine weeks with our pre-season and it’s all pretty much for this game, this game on Saturday night, so it will be a good test for us to see where we’re at and hopefully we’ll get a good result.”
Celtic arrive in Perth on Monday afternoon and the Bhoys will be looking to fire up their pre-season somewhat after losing 1-0 to Central Coast on Saturday night, courtesy of a brilliant late strike from Troy Hearfield.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon may be slightly distracted by some late-night phone calls however, as the Old Firm side has been linked with troubled Welsh striker Craig Bellamy, who has also been linked with West Ham and Sunderland as well.
