Melbourne Victory striker Jesse Makarounas hopes Kenny Lowe can turn around Perth Glory's flailing A-League season - but not this weekend.
Makarounas grew up in Perth and has intimate knowledge of Glory's current coaching group.
Lowe, who took the reins of Glory following the mid-season sacking of Alistair Edwards, coached Makarounas for three years at the WA National Training Centre.
Glory assistants Gareth Naven and Andrew Ord also coached the 19-year-old in his juniors.
Makarounas started his A-League career at Glory, but was starved of opportunities and made the switch to Victory early last year.
The speedy striker will return to his former stomping ground of nib Stadium on Saturday night as the third-placed Victory aim to enhance their chances of landing second spot.
Lowe is keen to win the full-time coaching role at Glory, but his chances appear slim following the team's eight-game winless run, which has left the club rooted to the bottom of the table.
Makarounas wants to see Lowe's luck change after this weekend.
"Kenny's a great coach. He's a great mentor. I learnt a lot from him," Makarounas said.
"I'm really happy he's got an opportunity to coach at the highest level.
"It's been hard for him coming in at this stage of the season, but he's a great coach and I'm sure he can turn it around."
Glory skipper Jacob Burns also predicted Lowe would become a successful coach if given the gig full-time.
"I can't speak highly enough of the respect he's got of the group here," Burns said.
"What you see is what you get with Kenny. He's quite a funny lad, and he's got tremendous football brain."
With just five rounds to go, the race is on for second spot.
Although Brisbane (44) have top spot sewn up, Western Sydney (34), Victory (33), Sydney (31), Adelaide (30), Central Coast (30) and Newcastle (29) are jostling for positions.
Victory will enter Saturday's clash a tad weary following their 2-2 draw with Jeonbuk Motors in Wednesday night's Asian Champions League clash in Melbourne.
But Glory are also vulnerable.
