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Perth Glory sit bottom of the ladder and face high-flying Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Friday night, but master coach Tony Popovic isn't one to stress.
Perth Glory coach Tony Popovic says it would be wrong of him to panic despite his team sitting last on the A-League table.
Glory were the runaway Premiers Plate winners last season, but currently find themselves in 11th spot with just one win from seven games.
Their task won't be any easier on Friday night when they play second-placed Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Glory have averaged just one goal per game this season - down on the 2.1 from last campaign.
They are also yet to keep a clean sheet.
Time is running out for Perth to become serious title contenders this season, but Popovic isn't worried just yet.
The master coach believes his team's performances have been relatively good - but they haven't had much luck when it comes to finishing off their chances.
"This year the results aren't there, but the performances are there," Popovic said.
"It would be wrong of me to panic. The players have trained well this week.
"Confidence I judge by what I see at training. Players can't hide their body language, players can't hide their demeanour. They're training extremely hard, they really want this to work.
"They know they're close, and Friday is an opportunity to get a result."
From about midway through last season, teams started adopting a more defence-minded approach against Glory in a bid to limit their goalscoring power and catch them on the counter.
The same approach has been adopted this year - with far greater success.
Popovic believes the flood gates could open for Glory if they can score the first goal in a match.
"It's difficult to score against a compact, organised defensive block," Popovic said.
"We're still creating chances, we're still getting 20-odd shots on goal a game, but it's about converting those opportunities.
"Once we convert, I'm sure the opponent won't be able to continue sitting that way, and then we'll have more chances to get those goals on the break like we got last season."
Defender Osama Malik will miss a fourth straight game with a hamstring issue, and he's no certainty to return next week either.
His continued absence is a blow as Glory attempt to find a way to stop prolific striker Jamie Maclaren, who has scored nine goals in four games this season.
