Adelaide United coach Carl Veart is hopeful the Reds 2-0 victory over Perth Glory will help restore the confidence with which his side was playing prior to the World Cup break.
Before the league paused for the World Cup, United had registered three successive wins with their final match before the hiatus a 3-0 triumph over Melbourne Victory on 11 November in Adelaide.
But, since the league resumed on 9 December, the Reds had been winless in three with back-to-back losses heading into the clash against Perth.
Veart felt United started timidly against the Glory before their confidence grew, eventually breaking the deadlock just before half time through Lachie Barr.
"At times confidence comes with winning," he said.
"Sometimes, especially having had lost two games in a row, the players were a little bit edgy and I think you could sense that in the first 10-15 minutes.
"We had opportunities to go and get in behind them and we didn't take those opportunities.
"But then after we got the goal, that settled us a bit and we played some good football."
Veart also acknowledged Perth were resolute without the ball, forcing the Reds to build up patiently and pick their moments.
While it wasn't the most polished performance from either side, Veart was impressed with Adelaide's second goal.
The well-worked team move saw United play out from the back before Ryan Kitto and Craig Goodwin combined to slip through Zach Clough who supplied a wicked cross for Ben Halloran to latch onto at the back post.
"They're a difficult side to play against. They defend very well and get a lot of numbers behind the ball," Veart said.
"I think you see common trends with the way we play with forward runs looking to get in behind and move the ball quickly.
"Tonight, it (the goal) was good; it was nice and quick and we got in behind them and full credit to them - they defended well and made it difficult for us."
Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich felt a pair of defining moments cost his side any chance of victory.
Zadkovich said the opener was sloppy on Perth's behalf, when in the same passage, they failed to adequately clear a corner and then didn't deal with the subsequent cross into the area which led to the goal.
Soon after the interval, the Glory had a positive spell and should have equalised through substitute Luke Ivanovic, who side-footed wide from eight metres after a deflected cross fell perfectly for him.
"I thought the second half we played some really good stuff in patches," Zadkovich said.
"We were the better team in the second half and created a gilt-edged chance at 1-0 down which we should score.
"That's kind of the tale of the game; concede a soft goal before half time when we're playing poorly, and then miss a golden chance when we're playing well - in both boxes we were poor tonight and that's why we lost."
