Bani Yas head coach Luis Garcia hopes Australian midfielder Mark Milligan can transfer his goal-scoring form from country to club as he prepares to play him in a more advanced role.

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The 30-year-old midfielder netted the opening goal for the Socceroos in their comfortable 3-0 win against Tajikistan on Tuesday in World Cup 2018 qualifying.

“I hope for him to target goals with Bani Yas but in his first match he played with Amer Abdulrahman and he was the defensive midfielder,” said the Spaniard.

“After that I tried to play him with Fawaz (Awana), to give him the chance to go forward and score goals. I think with Milligan and the other players in the middle I have a good group.”

The Sky Blues began the Arabian Gulf League season with a 2-0 win at newly-promoted Al Shaab but lost 1-0 to Al Nasr in their opening Arabian Gulf Cup (AGL) fixture a week later.

Garcia’s side still have one foreign slot left open and have been linked with Al Ahli forward Oussama Assaidi and Aston Villa’s Charles N’Zogbia. Garcia, 42, expects to sign someone within days, but was remaining tight-lipped as to his identity.

“I think we have good news but not now,” he said. “The club is trying to make a new signing. We will have news in a few days. It’s not easy to play with three foreign players because all clubs play with four. We are trying. I hope to tell you news about this new player soon.”