Honourable Australia Cup effort provides Ballarat City FC with confidence

City FC suffered a 6-0 loss to Melbourne Victory FC in their Saturday NPL3 match-up before a quick turnaround saw them facing Heidelberg in their Tuesday night Australia Cup tie.

Though Ballarat City FC went down 3-1 to Heidelberg, player-manager Michael Trigger's men held the NPL1 side scoreless in the second half, proving that City FC's best football can match most others.

"We are confident that if we can replicate a similar performance from Tuesday that we'll cause any NPL3 team some serious issues," Trigger said.

"There were parts of the game we were really happy with especially in the second half.

"But we made a few small mistakes and against a side like Heidelberg they are always going to punish you for those minor mistakes."

City FC conceded three goals in the opening half before Pat Karras broke through in the 49^th minute.

"Pat has been really good for us since coming back to the club this year," Trigger said.

"I challenged him to start finding the back of the net and that goal is a testament to his good work over the past couple weeks."

City FC now turns its attention to the fourth-placed Western United in a winnable match-up despite the two sides sitting six places apart in the standings.

"The cup game was a good performance but in the end we still didn't get the result we were after, so we need to focus on this weekend and getting the result we want."

The shining light for City FC's up-and-down season has been their stellar form at home with Trigger's side still unbeaten at the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility.

"Our home form so far this season has been crucial towards some of the success that we have had."

Ballarat City FC host Western United on Saturday at the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility at 3pm.