Western Sydney coach Marko Rudan says ex-Socceroo Oliver Bozanic is "nowhere near" ready to make his A-League Men return despite being listed as having recovered from a calf injury.
The Wanderers announced they had lured Bozanic from Central Coast three weeks after the conclusion of last season as Rudan began assembling a new-look roster for his first full campaign in charge.
The former Mariners midfielder finished fourth in the Johnny Warren Medal count in the 2020-21 season and the seven-time Socceroos representative loomed as a strong acquisition.
Bozanic has since returned to training after overcoming the injury he suffered in pre-season and Rudan listed him in his squad to face Newcastle.
But after the 2-0 win on Friday, Rudan said the veteran still had some way to go before he could return to match fitness and beat Calem Nieuwenhof and Romain Amalfitano to selection in the midfield.
"Ollie's nowhere near it at the moment so there's no point even talking about Ollie," Rudan said.
"Romain and Calem have been fantastic, probably not last week as such, but tonight they were very good again."
The win over the Jets moves the Wanderers to the top of the ladder and marks the third time in four games Rudan's side have kept a clean sheet.
But the coach said it was too early to start labelling the Wanderers' strengths and weaknesses.
"We're much more than being a solid defensive unit," he said.
"We work a lot on the ball. In the first half they barely got on the ball. I thought we played through them really well.
"The focus in pre-season has been on many different aspects of the game and this is a team that's going to continue to grow."
