ADELAIDE United coach Rini Coolen has his new miracle man.

Argentine Marcos Flores once wowed the Hindmarsh faithful as the Reds' No. 10 but it was Andy Slory who upstaged Harry Kewell's A-League premiere with a 40th minute run and glory strike on Friday night.

Dutch international Slory was pencilled in on a wing when purchased by Coolen last season but his switch to the playmaker's role adrift of striker Serginho van Dijk paid off immediately against Melbourne Victory.

"We changed after 30 minutes and put Slory as the No. 10 with a little more space behind Serg," said Coolen, reflecting on the 1-1 draw in front of 10,000 fans.

"After a few minutes he showed how dangerous he can be using that space, he's a very good finisher."

Coolen was forced to alter his method of attack with power forward Bruce Djite sidelined by a hamstring strain. Diminutive Zenon Caravella assumed the creative portfolio while Iain Ramsay was promoted to the left.

Adelaide has had an unblemished pre-season but Coolen will be comforted knowing he has Slory as the game-breaker and can change tack mid-game should anything happen to strikers Djite, Van Dijk or the actual No. 10 - Socceroo Dario Vidosic.

Slory limped out of Adelaide's finals campaign in the Gold Coast United loss then copped a left-knee strain against the same club in a pre-season friendly two weeks ago.

However, Coolen believes the former Feyenoord cult-figure will showcase the talent that earned two Dutch caps in 2007.

"Hopefully he stays fit and everybody can see Andy Slory play. It is the first game he has played at this level for more than 60 minutes for a while," said Coolen.

An epic pre-season is now over and the Reds can now focus on the their away season opener against Perth Glory on October 9.

Draws in the past two weeks with Gold Coast, Victory and a 3-0 thumping of Brisbane augur well for Coolen's new-look squad. More supply and imagination in the final third is his only demand.

"We missed Spase Dilevski who we lost in the warm-up, which also hurt our midfield but we have to create a few more chances. We definitely have to improve in a few things," said Coolen, set to offer former Sydney FC stopper Antony Golec a deal after a two-week trial.