"Their last goal was probably because we were pushing forward, looking for the win, and got caught out of position a bit.

"I suppose the good thing is we're not having any trouble scoring goals, but we need to tidy up our defence a bit this week."

North said Newcastle were eager to notch their first win of the season after having to salvage draws from the first two games of their title defence, against Central Coast (1-1) and the Glory last Friday night.

"We've shown good fighting spirit, but we could easily have taken all six points rather than just two," he said.

Meanwhile, the Socceroos defender said he had heard nothing more about a possible move overseas and had accepted that he would probably play out the season with Newcastle.

There had been rumours that clubs in Turkey and France were interested in recruiting the 26-year-old, but they are running out of time because the August transfer window closes in four days.

"At this stage I'm just concentrating on playing for Newcastle," North said. "There was a lot of talk but nothing much has come of it. That's life and that's football. I've moved on."

AAP reports: Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell insists Simon Colosimo is still a friend of the club despite the former skipper's controversial move to A-League rival Sydney FC ahead of Sunday's showdown between Perth and Sydney.

Colosimo's defection to Sydney was the league's worst-kept secret, and even Perth's home fans booed the 29-year-old in the closing rounds of last season as rumours of his impending departure came to light.