MELBOURNE Victory defender Roddy Vargas is backing new boy Michael Thwaite to fill the void left by Adrian Leijer's departure to Premier League outfit Fulham last year.

Leijer left for English Premier League outfit Fulham just prior to the 2007-08 Hyundai A-League season and while Ljubo Milicevic was slated to fill the key defensive role, the former Socceroo was dogged by injury and form issues and left the club having played just two games.

Steven Pace was recruited from the Victorian Premier League to fill the gap, and while the former Altona Magic defender did a job, there was always a sense that Vargas needed a more experienced hand to help him out.

Vargas believes Melbourne has found that man in Thwaite, a Socceroo who has joined on a one-year loan deal from Norwegian club SK Brann.

Vargas said: "I've had a few sessions with him. We had an intra club match yesterday. He looks a quality player.

"He's played in Europe before and represented his country a few times. It's a good addition to the club."

"I think we felt Adrian Leijer's departure a bit last year. Adrian, Musky (Kevin Muscat), Pior (Daniel Piorkowski) and me had a good year together. When he (Adrian) left, we never really replaced him with someone, week in, week out. Hopefully, Michael can be that player that can be there for us, week in, week out."

Vargas backed Thwaite to adapt quickly to his new surroundings, given Victory are his third club in 12 months and he has substantial experience.

"Players like Thwaitey, who have got a lot of experience, they can come into a system and pretty much fit in with a lot of ease. A lot of younger players, it takes them a while to get used to a new system and different players, but I think Thwaitey will fit in pretty quickly."

Victory haven't had a traditional pre-season build up to this season, having played in the Asian Champions League and taken only a short-time off in June. Vargas, who has had even less time off, having spent much of June with the Socceroos, said the different preparation might prove a blessing in disguise.

"I think the boys are buzzing, it's gonna go a lot quicker. Last time around we had a four- or five-month pre-season, which can be mentally draining. This year, the boys are just hanging to get the games underway, I think it's a positive," he said.

And Vargas, who said he's a much better player for his month with the national team, expects a big performance from Victory when the Pre-Season Cup gets underway against Adelaide on July 20 in Launceston.

"We've set ourselves some goals. We're going to take the pre-season pretty seriously. Last year, we got off to a slow start, we see the pre-season as the beginning of our A-League campaign," he said.