Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay has "no worries" about his side's winless start to the A-League season.
Wellington Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay looks dejected following their 2-1 defeat to the Newcastle Jets. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021
The Phoenix have been beaten 2-1 by the Newcastle Jets in Wollongong to slip to second-to-bottom in the 12-team competition, with just one point from three matches.
"I have no worries," Talay told media after the match.
"You know we've been through this previously and it's just another game and we look forward to our game next week against Central Coast."
Wellington lost their first four games last season and didn't record their first win until round six.
But they recovered to finish third on the ladder and Talay believes the Phoenix are better off this season.
"Results wise I think we started slowly, but footballing wise I don't think we have.
"Last season it was a start from scratch, but this year we've kept and maintained the core group of players who understand how we want to play so I'm sure we'll come out of this pretty quick."
Phoenix striker Tomer Hemed reacts after a missed chance during their A-League match against Newcastle. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021
He expects the team will start stringing results together once they get their first three points of the season.
"Winning games builds confidence and that's what we need at this stage to win one game and I'm sure the run will continue then.
"Football is about confidence too. You know you score a goal early or you win a game one-nil that builds confidence in players and that's all we need.
"I think we'll continue the work that we're doing, we'll just try and make it better.
"The most important thing for me is believing in our process and believing in our principles and the way that we want to play and having belief in my philosophy with what we have to to do."
After a disrupted start to the season, Wellington have a testing schedule over the next month.
They face the top of the table Central Coast Mariners twice in a fortnight, either side of a meeting with premiers Sydney FC.
The Phoenix are also scheduled to play Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City before the end of February.
Phoenix players Joshua Laws and Ben Waine react after a missed chance during their A-League match against Newcastle. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021
Talay is welcoming the run of matches.
"Not worried at all.
"I have belief in the players. We've got the players to do it. They showed last year that they can do it [and] we maintained the core of [that squad] this year.
"The more challenging the game I think the boys love to step up to it so we'll take any opposition on."
But he knows his side needs to be more clinical in front of goal, after failing to convert 23 shots in their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.
"I think we need to get better and maybe I'll have to starve the boys of some finishing this week and they might be hungry and they might actually hit the back of the net.
"That's one thing that we definitely need to improve on because we can't go through games where we create a lot of opportunities and not score and reward ourselves."
