Melbourne Heart coach John van 't Schip believes his side is just one win away from turning around its poor form despite being comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the Jets in Newcastle on Saturday night.
Melbourne Heart coach John van 't Schip believes his side is just one win away from turning around its poor form despite being comprehensively beaten 3-0 by the Jets in Newcastle on Saturday night.
The Heart started brightly but found themselves behind midway through the first half after a Jeremy Brockie header.
The Melbourne side then suffered another concentration lapse at the start of the second half when Ryan Griffiths scored from a set piece in the 47th minute before Michael Bridges sealed the victory in the 76th .
And even though the Heart showed some determination they rarely troubled the Jets defence throughout the contest.
The loss means the Heart are winless in eight games and are clinging on to six place as the Jets leapfrogged them into fifth.
Van 't Schip agreed his side turned in a 'flat attacking performance' and rued his team's lack of depth.
"The first 23 minutes we were controlling the game," he said.
"We were not dominating the game but giving them enough problems but after that they had a very easy header and went 1-0 behind and after that we suffered more and gave away too much space.
"We were still in the match at halftime but giving away the second goal from a set piece that early in the second half made it very difficult for us and you could see that the depth in the squad is breaking us up."
"Having five players out for a long period - sometimes we have managed quite well but today it was poor."
Despite the Heart starting well, the Jets wrestled control of the match from the visitors as they out-muscled the relatively inexperienced Melbourne side with a number of heavy one-on-one challenges.
"Maybe that is part of their (the Jets) game and they have the right to do that, we have some young players and maybe they wanted to intimidate them," van 't Schip said.
"For the first 20 minutes we had our best period and we were playing OK and they were looking how to change things but in that period."
"The problem for us was we didn't create opportunities to score and that is what it is all about."
Jets coach Gary van Egmond said the Heart performance reminded him of his side about seven weeks ago when they were playing without confidence.
Van 't Schip said it was vital for his side to get back some more experienced players such as Fred and Matt Thompson to get their campaign back on track and said just one win could turn it around for his side.
"It can be there very quickly," he said of the team's confidence.
"I have already said that it has not been there for eight weeks because last week we played a good game against the Victory and we played good games against the Roar and Central Coast, but we have to start winning.
"Confidence is also about getting results - you can keep on playing quite well and not getting results and at the end it is going to cost you confidence and that is what is happening now."