Perth Glory have freed up another visa spot on their roster following the departure of Brazilian winger Sidnei Sciola.
Sidnei, currently sidelined with a quadriceps injury, will leave Perth for his new club in Central America later this week.
The 29-year-old, who scored six goals in 42 appearances for Glory, struggled for regular game time during his three seasons in the west and his place in Kenny Lowe’s squad was under threat following the return of Andy Keogh and the emergence of Jamal Reiners.
Keogh was officially re-registered as a Glory player on Friday after the club cut ties with underperforming Dutch striker Guyon Fernandez.
The Irishman, who scored 12 goals in 27 games for Perth last season, failed to find the back of the net in his comeback game on Saturday night as Glory went down 3-1 to Adelaide United at nib Stadium.
MATCH REPORT: Reds move into six with win over 10-man Glory
Keogh played out the full 90 minutes and Lowe was pleased with his star recruit’s output despite the losing result for his team.
“He worked ever so hard, he was always a threat, he was always available, contributed massively,” Lowe said.
“He’s a fit kid, he’s in great shape, he’s a proper pro.
“He had a great game tonight. He linked in, worked hard to put them under pressure, especially early on when we were pressing them.”
Glory claimed the lead against the Reds after just six minutes when Tarek Elrich headed the ball into his own net as he attempted to deny Chris Harold from converting a Richard Garcia cross.
Adelaide hit back through Sergio Cirio in the 27th minute before Argentine playmaker Marcelo Carrusca scored a sublime goal two minutes after half-time to put the Reds on track for their fourth win from their last six starts.
Craig Goodwin ensured victory for the visitors with a low finish in the dying minutes of what was an entertaining contest.
Glory’s push for victory was not helped when defender Alex Grant was shown a red card for bringing down Goodwin on the stroke of half-time, but Lowe was once again able to reshuffle his inexperienced defence and keep the pressure on Adelaide.
“I think when you get a man sent off it’s very difficult, especially against a side like this who likes to keep the ball, but fair play to us, I think we pushed and pushed to try and get something out of it,” Lowe said.
“I thought everybody in the side put on a good show. We had 10 players against 11 and they’re a very good side with the ball. They ask enough questions of you when you’ve got 11 players playing.
“I thought we created opportunities, I thought we made them nervous and I thought there was maybe a little inkling there we could have got something in the second half. It wasn’t to be, but you can’t fault the effort of the 10 guys out there.”
Lowe said veteran defender Michael Thwaite was ruled out on Friday with severe bruising on his knee and he was unsure if the former Glory captain would be fit to take on Melbourne City next Saturday.
