Western United coach Mark Rudan still found cause to be positive despite a defeat at the hands of Wellington Phoenix and a potentially long-term knee injury to a key defender in an A-League clash in Ballarat on Satrurday.
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Phoenix further strengthened its claims for a finals with a commanding 3-1 victory at Mars Stadium.
Rudan said while the result was not what United wanted, the effort was there in testing conditions.
"It was better than the last three games. I thought the boys worked hard.
"We had more of the ball, we had more chances, more shots," he said.
"We got done on the counter-attack.
"It is a tough one to take because basically it was those little errors that cost us," Rudan said.
He said United needed to take its chances better.
Wellington's David Ball opened the scoring on 40 minutes, and Phoenix did not look back.
New Zealand youngster Callum McCowatt doubled the advantage early in the second half on 55 minutes and then Ulises Alejandro put the result beyond doubt with a third goal for Phoenix in the 80th minute.
Alessandro Diamanto scored a consolation goal for United from the penalty spot on 88 minutes, but it was too little too late.
Phoenix looked to have scored a fourth goal in injury time when substitute Gary Hooper won a header contest with Western United keeper Filip Kurto outside the penalty box, but it was disallowed after a video assistant referee review.
As well as missing out on any points, Western United is waiting to learn the extent of an injury to defender Darren Hamill, who hurt a knee in the 14th minute.
Rudan said all United could do was wait for a diagnosis.
While not prepared to speculate, Rudan it did not look given how tough Hamill was.
Another defender Aaron Calver was also forced out of the game with an ankle/foot issue in the second half.
United stars Besart Berisha and Scott McDonald had little influence on the game.
Wellington coach Ufuk Talay said he could not have been happier with the performance.
He said Phoenix had been more clinical in front of goal.
Talay said the more games his squad played together, the better they were getting after a slow start to the season - four losses in the opening four games.
He said the players were starting show a greater desire to succeed and greater confidence.
"We're showing we want to play and work for each other."
Wellington has now gone seven games without tasting defeat, which Talay was sure would see it earning greater respect.
