Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell is battling to hold onto striker Nikita Rukavytsya. Rukavytsya hopes to spend the January transfer window trialling with European clubs as he seeks a move away from the A-League.

"You can see he's a quality young player but you've got to be wary if he goes overseas and doesn't play," said Mitchell. "Here's better playing here and learning the game and fine-tuning certain aspects of his game. You might have a bit more tempo in training (in Europe) but if you're not playing, you're not learning."