Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts is loath to compare Jamie Maclaren with Bruno Fornaroli, but says he wouldn't swap his current striker for the former face of the A-League club.
Fornaroli will face City for the first time since departing under acrimonious circumstances after he was frozen out by ex-coach Warren Joyce.
City secured Maclaren in January and the Socceroo has well and truly been worth the investment.
Maclaren scored five goals in nine appearances at the tail-end of last season but has gone to another level under Mombaerts, scoring nine goals in five A-League games and six in five FFA Cup appearances, along with setting the tone with his defensive pressing.
"I'm sure we have the best one, I don't want to change," Mombaerts said on Thursday.
"I don't want to change - I'm very happy with the performance of Jamie because (of) the goalscoring but also about his attitude and also he's doing well in the high press, he also helps the team to set up our style.
"If we don't have a player like Maclaren to start the high press, it's also difficult - he works a lot for the team, so that also.
"But I respect all the players - I don't want to compare okay, I respect all the players. I know that Fornaroli was a good player for Melbourne City but I trust in my player, it's not (just) about Jamie - I trust in the others also."
Fornaroli scored 48 goals for City in the A-League and another nine for the club in the FFA Cup.
He has two A-League goals for the Glory so far but Mombaerts said there wouldn't be any specific plan to target the striker.
"We don't have a special plan because yes we can say that Fornaroli, he's a hero, but also they have some good players," Mombaerts said.
"So we can have a plan to do this, no. The best for us is to concentrate on what we have to do to keep our style.
"So we know that he is a good striker, yes, we know that. But we have also a good striker."
Australian Associated Press
