A-League Men: Perth Glory coach Adam Griffiths challenges midfielders after departure of Rhys Bozinovski

Perth Glory coach Adam Griffiths has challenged his side’s midfield group to take the vacant jersey left by the departed Rhys Bozinovski by the scruff of the neck. Bozinovski sealed a move to Dutch Eredivise relegation battlers Heracles Almelo overnight, where he will be coached by former Adelaide United technical director Ernest Faber and link up with Socceroos attacking midfielder Ajdin Hrustic. It comes just months after he first arrived in Perth as a free agent following the hibernation of Western United, where he made his name over the past four seasons. The West Australians understand Glory received a transfer fee of more than $450,000 for the 21-year-old central midfielder, who had started 14 of Glory’s 15 A-League Men games this season and established himself as a firm favourite of Griffiths. With Will Freney having similarly cemented a starting berth in the middle of the park for Glory, the other spot is up for grabs and Griffiths said it was up to the remaining central midfielders to pick up the slack. “The message is always, for every single training session, every single player has to take the opportunity. If you get an opportunity to step into the first 11, you take it, and you make sure you put your best foot forward,” he said. 20-year-old Freney has started nine games this season, while teenage academy graduate Gio De Abreu has won over both Griffiths and fans with his aggression and comfort on the ball. “Both of them have shown some really good things, and they’ve also got areas they need to improve,” Griffiths said of the young duo. “We push them every single day to become better, facing forward, playing forward, their mentality in terms of the decision-making in the final third, so we’re trying to improve them every single day.” There are also experienced options for Griffiths to consider; Englishman Luke Amos was a fan favourite last season but has found himself out of favour, while Callum Timmins has returned to training, and veteran Brandon O’Neill is also in the mix. Griffiths paid tribute to Bozinovski after the midfielder only arrived at Glory in September. “It’s a great move. It is a loss, but we have other players who now have to step up and take that opportunity. Rhys is a great character and a great player for the team, and we wish him all the best,” he said. “Rhys is the type of profile that we like, and he’s proven that he’s been a real asset to the team, but so have some of the other players in that midfield.”