Confidence key to Roar turnaround

New Brisbane Roar coach Mike Mulvey says his aim over the coming weeks will be to help his players regain their confidence.

Mulvey watched his team go down 1-0 to Perth Glory at Suncorp Stadium in his first game in charge on Friday night, a result that further damaged the team’s hopes of salvaging their season.

He had only been with the side since flying in to Brisbane on Wednesday to replace Rado Vidosic, overseeing just one training session leading up to the game.

Perth’s Steven McGarry won the match for his side with a terrific long-range curler at the end of the first half.

The home side dominated possession and chances in the second period, but poor finishing meant they were unable to equalise.

“The game’s all about scoring goals,” Mulvey said after the match.

“The good news is we’re creating chances.

“We’re just a little bit low on confidence at the moment. We need one of those chances to go in and once that happens we’ve got players who will score goals on a regular basis.”

Mulvey said he knew his players and Roar fans were hurting after the loss, but with a few minor improvements in execution and a bit more self belief, the club will be back to winning ways.

“I’m as disappointed as the players are. We’ve just lost three points. We’ve lost the game. We’ve lost at home. Our fans demand us to play a certain way, but they demand us to win,” he said.

“We were a little bit sloppy out of the blocks, some of our passing was not as crisp as it normally is.

“Once we got that right, and I could show the players the whole of the second half there and I think they could gain a lot of confidence from that because there was great periods of time where we had a lot of possession. We created chances.

“It’s a question of just lacking confidence. You might take a little bit extra on a pass when you’re actually playing a ball. When you’re receiving it you might take that extra touch.”

The former Gold Coast United gaffer outlined the task in the coming weeks for the defending champions, saying the club still has the players to turn things around.

“I’ve talked about it all week; we need to get our mojo back,” Mulvey said.

“Losing doesn’t help. But what does help is the character of the players I’ve got in the dressing room there.

“It’s very very simple. What we need is positivity. We need positive energy, positive enthusiasm, positive attitudes right through the club.

“What I promise is that we will work every hour possibly to rectify the situation.”