Arthur Diles was able to take heart from the spirit his side showed despite Melbourne Victory suffering defeat to Brisbane Roar in Round 6 of the Isuzu UTE A-League.
An early strike from opposition midfielder Sam Klein, powered into the top corner, after just three minutes of action, proved enough for the home side to take all three points at Suncorp Stadium.
In response to the setback, Victory created a series of chances during the Friday night fixture in Queensland, and Roar goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis had to be at his very best to deny the visitors from taking at least a share of the spoils.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Diles reflected on the impact of conceding early and praised the way his players continually took the fight to Brisbane
“You never want to concede a goal early in a match, that’s for sure, because it swings the momentum pretty early. But each time that’s happened to us, the response has been excellent anyway, so it’s never affected us.
“Moving on from that, we picked ourselves up and kept going, and that’s what I’m most proud of, that effort. The players didn’t use that as something to put them on the back foot or put their heads down, and they showed courage, they showed belief, and they showed fight.”
Diles’ team are back in action in a week’s time, travelling to Macarthur FC on Friday, December 5, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT, before hosting Adelaide United in an Original Rivalry double header at AAMI Park the following weekend.
The first of these matches is Victory’s third-straight away trip, and the Head Coach is already plotting a return to winning ways against the Bulls, critically translating performances into results.
“You can’t put your head down. You have got to keep going, like we did tonight, like we’ll continue to do, and we’ll turn this around.
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of when, and every game we play is a step closer for us to turn this around.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
