Wolves correspondent Tim Nash explains why Christophe Berra feels the new defensive competition surrounding him in Perth will ultimately prove to his benefit.

Christophe Berra insists he’s sharper for the growing competition at Wolves.

Berra arrived in January for £2.3million and formed a solid partnership with Jody Craddock for the rest of the season, as Mick McCarthy’s side won the Championship.

Since then £2.5million Ronald Zubar has arrived from Marseille, while Bobo Balde is on trial with the club still trying to sign Michael Mancienne on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

In addition, McCarthy – who has also been linked with a swoop for Villa’s Zat Knight – also has Richard Stearman, while out-of-favour centre-backs Neill Collins, Jason Shackell andDarren Ward remain at the club.

But Berra’s attitude is to the ever-increasing competition is ‘bring it on.’

He said: “If the gaffer thinks we need to strengthen the defence, that’s up to him, we’re all for it because we’re all fighting for a place.

“It keeps everyone sharp in training and makes you want to do well, because we all want to keep in the gaffer’s mind.

“Whoever comes in is going to be competition – not just for me, but for all the other defenders.

“If it’s a quality player coming in, it’s only going to improve us for next season.

“At big clubs you always expect competition, not just in my position but in the forwards and in midfield as well where we’ve got other players coming.”

Friday’s opening pre-season friendly saw a changed defence keep a clean sheet in the 1-0 victory over Perth Glory.

Craddock and Berra started, before being replaced by Zubar and Balde after 61 minutes.

Wolves’ defence will be put to the test again on Wednesday night, when Robbie Fowler is set to make his debut against North Queensland Fury.

Known as ‘God’ to Liverpool fans for a goalscoring run that saw him hit 183 goals in 369 games over two spells at Anfield, Fowler is now 34 and seeking to relaunch his career with the newly-formed Hyundai A-League club.

Berra has never faced the former England international but he’s relishing the chance.

The defender said: “He was a big player when I was growing up and he scored a bag-load of goals.

“He’s done a lot in his career and he’s still got quality so we’ll have to watch him closely. He’s a class finisher.”