Socceroos Asian Cup bolter Mitch Nichols has no regrets over failed move to Japan from Victory Mitch Nichols of the Glory is gunning for an Asian Cup berth. IT'S December 21, 2013, and Mitch Nichols is flying. There's a double-page feature in the Herald Sun singing his praises in the morning, then he scores two goals for Melbourne Victory in a 3-1 derby win over Melbourne Heart in the evening. At that point he was also a comfortable leader of the club's best and fairest count and, despite missing the last 15 games, his tally of 29 votes would see him lose to eventual winner Adama Traore by just eight votes. But three weeks later the then 24-year-old is gone, overseas for the first time in his club career, poached by Japanese giant Cerezo Osaka. It was a move that promised much and, with the World Cup only six months away, seemingly all Nichols had to do to get in to Ange Postecoglou's 23-man squad was get regular game time. In the aforementioned interview Nichols said an overseas move was something he wanted to pursue when he felt he was ready. "If I do go over I hope it's a matter of "bang, I'm playing, I'm one of the better players in the team or the coach counts on me,"" he said. But it didn't work out that way. Nichols would make just one start for Cerezo, in an Asian Champions League game, and made just six substitute appearances in the J-League for a total of 41 minutes. The signing of Uruguayan megastar Diego Forlan two weeks after Nichols" January arrival didn't help his cause and the sacking of coach Ranko Popovic in June plus hiring of new boss Marco Pezzaiuoli stamped his papers. "I thought I was finding my feet," he said. But once they changed the coach the technical directors or general managers didn't even give me a chance to train with the new guys so what can you do? Within weeks the Queenslander had secured a one-year loan deal with Perth Glory. He has to go back to Cerezo after the A-League season, but Nichols said he isn't sure yet if he wants to do so permanently. Nichols did not make it to Brazil. Common consensus suggests that his move cost him a World Cup berth. But does the attacking midfielder agree? "No because I wasn't even involved in the Socceroos before I went to Japan," he said. It would be quite different if I was, but I wasn't. So why then, if he was doing so well at Victory, did he leave when he did? And does he regret doing so? The way I was thinking was that I was 24 and I hadn't had too many chances (to go overseas) before so when the opportunity is presented then you've got to weigh up the pros and cons and I wanted to go for it. It was my decision. Victory, they accepted it and that was good from them. Hindsight's a wonderful thing in saying if it worked out or not in the end, but I still take the positive from it that I got to experience football overseas and I actually always wanted to play in the J-League so it was a good experience. I actually still really enjoyed it and I wouldn't change things because you'd never know where it leads. I've come back to the A-League to play at Perth and now I've got a chance with the Socceroos, so you've got to look at it both ways. It was a new culture and a new way of going about things. And the football was good - it was definitely a step up from the A-League. But there were a few things that you didn't know you were walking in to and things are then taken out of your control. Mitchell Nichols was in brilliant form before he left Melbourne Victory. It's a lot more cut throat over here because they have the budgets to make decisions and it puts a lot of pressure on us to be up there challenging as a team. When things weren't going right they obviously got rid of the coach and they wanted to explore new foreigners. That was their decision and they stick by that. Nichols has quickly re-established himself in the A-League, becoming one of Perth's most important players in the Glory's stunning start to the season. It convinced Postecoglou to select him in the squad for Australia's friendly against Japan. Nichols said "there's a bit of irony" in the fact that Tuesday's game will take place in the Osaka stadium that Nichols called home for six months. Mitch Nichols in action for Japanese side Cerezo Osaka. As a result, the Palm Beach product says he would love some game time to "do well and show them that I'm capable of playing at a high level." Nichols is a Postecoglou favourite having played under him in championship-winning seasons at Brisbane and then reuniting - albeit briefly - at Victory. He may have missed his World Cup calling, but Nichols admits the Asian Cup was in the back of his mind when making the switch to Perth. So it was a no-brainer to try to look to come back to the A-League or somewhere else to get some game time because at this stage of my career it's no good for me not actually being involved in a team. Originally published as Nichols has no regrets over Japan move