Sardo and Vlajnic maintain full-back strength at Western United

Western United will continue to have strength in depth at the full-back positions in the Liberty A-League with Julia Sardo and Tyla Jay Vlajnic re-signing ahead of the Club’s second season.

Despite Angie Beard completing a permanent transfer to Swedish giant Linkӧping FC this week, United will be well covered with Sardo and Vlajnic joining Stacey Papadopoulos in returning to the side.

Sardo made 11 appearances for United last season, including six starts at right-back, while Vlajnic was a constant in Mark Torcaso’s inaugural team, playing 18 times.

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Ahead of their return to pre-season training, both players said they are committed to the Club’s search for further success in the Liberty A-League.

“I am very motivated to build on the success from last season. There is still plenty of room for improvement but if we can keep that team culture and spirit high, then I have no doubt we can make it to the finals again,” Sardo said.

Vlajnic added:

“I can’t wait for the upcoming season. I think last year we set an amazing foundation both on and off the field and showed the league what we’re capable of. This year we will build on that and go one better.”

Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato said the experience and quality that Sardo and Vlajnic possess will continue to be integral to the side.

“We are delighted to have Julia and TJ continue with us next season. Both players know this competition extremely well and will continue to play important roles for our team on and off the pitch,” he said.

“Our defensive group in the Liberty A-League is shaping up to be very strong with a mixture of top young talents and highly experienced players across a high-class group of players.”

After arriving from Melbourne City, Vlajnic would ultimately have a large impact further forward for United last season, moving up from left back to play a number of games on the left wing, scoring three goals.

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Sardo joined with experience at City and Perth Glory and excelled in the back half of the season, featuring in each of the last five regular season matches and also coming off the bench in the semi-final win over Sydney FC.

Both players will join their teammates for the beginning of pre-season training next week ahead of a trip to Perth to kick off the season on Saturday 14 October.

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