Perth Glory have been significantly boosted for Sunday’s clash with Melbourne Heart, as striker Michael Baird was cleared to play along with star defender Andy Todd.
Baird has been battling FIFA’s bureaucracy for the last three weeks seeking a provisional clearance to play for Perth after he was denied an international transfer clearance by former club, Romania’s Universtatea Craiova.
Where Baird’s former Craiova team-mates, Josh Mitchell (Perth Glory) and Joshua Rose (Central Coast) both received their provisional clearances in the past few weeks, Baird’s application was delayed as his FIFA case worker reportedly took annual leave.
However, the 27-year-old striker is keen to put the frustration behind him as he looks to help the Glory maintain their best start to a Hyundai A-League season.
“It’s been a long, long way but it’s finally through, so I’m happy,” declared Baird, having been told the good news late on Friday night.
“I was already asleep (when it came through), I was preparing as if I was coming.”
“(But) I didn’t really think it was going to (be sorted out) because at 10:00pm FIFA had spoken to me and said the judge was in Monaco at the UEFA Champions League draw, so he might not get a chance to look at it.”
“But obviously he did, and by 12.30am it was done.”
Baird said he’d have his work cut out for him breaking into a winning team.
“It’s very frustrating in a lot of aspects because I did all the pre-season and I was playing well, I had a spot and now you’ve got to work back into that position,” Baird said.
“I could start but it’s just going to depend on what formation Mitch (coach Dave Mitchell) thinks is best with the Heart.”
“But whatever I can do to come on board and make the team do better, I’ll do.”
“When I was going through those weeks it was all stressful, but now I’ve got it and I’m one of the players again, I forget about those hard weeks and it’s just back to good times and winning this game tomorrow.”
Adding more firepower to the Glory squad is last season’s club champion Todd, who has recovered quicker than expected from pre-season knee surgery.
The 35-year-old former Blackburn captain could even slot straight into the side in central defence, taking the place of the injured Jamie Harnwell.
If he does play, Todd will begin the game alongside Jamie Coyne, who is set to bring up his 100th Hyundai A-League match against the Heart.
“I didn’t really know too much about it (the milestone) ’til I was told at the start of the week,” Coyne said.
“I’m obviously proud to have been at the club this long and to have represented it, so looking forward to when I can hopefully celebrate with a win.”
