Pressley's arrival is a perfect boost for an under-strength Canberra as the team pushes aside a disrupted build up to their season-opener against the Melbourne Victory on Saturday.

Canberra will play its first game without six of its rising stars as they finish their Young Matildas duties at the under-19 Asian women's championship in China.

Pressley arrived last week to add starch to the United line-up and will be joined by some unknown teammates who have been called up from Canberra premier women's division.

United States player Kendall Fletcher will join Canberra for the first one or two weeks of the season, but Garriock is keen to recruit another international guest player for a temporary stint.

"I'm super excited about Kendall ... for her to be able to help us out this weekend, she's a star in my eyes, so it will be great to have her," Garriock said.

"At this stage it's one game [for Fletcher], but it could possibly turn into a couple of games. We'll wait and see, I haven't spoken to her from a contract point of view.

"She has been a guest player in the past ... but I'm still on the look for a quality guest player and I probably won't finalise that until the first couple of rounds.

"We've had a couple of practice games with our internationals and being able to coach international players ... they grasp the concept straight away."

Pressley, 27, will add valuable experience to an already impressive international contingent in Canberra.

She joins goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer and England veteran Laura Bassett as overseas-based players, while Brazil's Camila Martins Pereira has been ruled out after injuring her knee.

Pressley has previously played for Washington, Houston and the Western New York Flash, but is making her W-League debut against Melbourne.

"It's amazing, everyone has been super welcoming and professional. I'm excited to get the season started," Pressley said.

"The opportunity presented itself and it was too good to pass up. I don't know too much about the league, but a lot of my friends have been here and have enjoyed their time.

"I'm expecting quality soccer, there are some amazing players here and I'm excited to try to implement my style here. From what I do know ... the quality is about the same as [in the US]."

Garriock will name dual captains for the season, with Ash Sykes and Michelle Heyman considered the front-runners given they shared the job last year.

Garriock believes the W-League standard will be at an unprecedented level this year and the competition is helping entice players like Pressley to Australia.

"Sam Kerr said during the week the standard is just as high here [as it is in the US] and I tend to agree," Garriock said.

"Women's football is absolutely at its peak. We can thank the Matildas for that and the W-League is only going to grow from that.

"Toni has come in and hasn't missed a beat. She's coming in off the back of a very good season with the Orlando Pride ... I saw a lot of games in the NWSL and she's really surprised me with how athletic and strong she is.

"She's got a winning mentality and her left foot is just unbelievable. We had a practice match last night and she had one of the young girls next her ... that's only going to help our young girls."

W-LEAGUE ROUND ONE

Saturday: Canberra United v Melbourne Victory at Epping Stadium, 4.30pm.