Michael Garcia will have a better of idea of how Inglewood United measure-up against the National Premier Leagues big boys following this weekend’s clash with Perth SC. A rich vein of form has seen Inglewood string together straight five wins, a run which has moved the side to fourth on the competition standings, only two points behind third.

Garcia is understandably thrilled with that record, however, the rookie coach is looking forward to seeing how his team performs against the local scene’s traditional powerhouse. “You always know where you sit when you play Perth,” said Garcia, who played his junior days at Dorrien Gardens. “They are one of the benchmarks of the league, they always have been.”

“Perth are really well coached by Taki (Nicolaidis) and they have quality players … it will be a massive test for our team,” he continued. “But we don’t fear any team. We’re full of confident and playing okay so it’s a good time to be running into them. It should be a cracking game between two very good teams.”

Garcia is enjoying his first season as a senior coach but acknowledges the learning curve has been steep. “I’m learning a whole lot on the job,” he said. “The first part of the season was pretty frustrating. I got one win through the pre-season and coming into the season proper I found it hard to get a win, so I was questioning every little thing that I was doing.”

“I always felt confident on the inside that we had all the right things, it just had to be tweaked a little bit and probably it just need a little more patience with the players gelling together. We’re now getting results which is important and something we weren’t doing at the start. I’m really enjoying coaching the players and they’re responding pretty well.”