’I don’t look at the ladder’: Kisnorbo won’t buy into City hype

They’re in pole position to claim their first A-League title win but Melbourne City’s coach says the side can’t afford to become carried away.

Melbourne City face Perth next week. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Despite opening up a four-point lead on top of the A-League table, Melbourne City coach Patrick Kisnorbo has said his side won’t get caught up in their recent form.

City’s 3-1 win over Newcastle has put them in the enviable position of being top of the league with a game in hand heading into the final stretch of the season.

Kisnorbo said he isn’t looking at the ladder at the moment and all focus is on their next game.

“I’ve said it since day one, I don’t look at the ladder, I look at the next game” Kisnorbo told the media post-game.

“We have a tough game in Perth so we need to start preparing right and well and they’re a very good team.

“The ladder situation, we don’t talk about it, we don’t look at it.”

All in all, it was a solid performance from City who were able do enough to dispatch the Jets with relative ease.

Kisnorbo played 76 games for Melbourne City as a player. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

Kisnorbo, however, was disappointed with how his side switched off in the final moments and conceded a last-minute goal from Steven Ugarkovic who capitalised on a mistake in City’s defence.

“As a defender, when you concede a goal like that towards the end of the game … it frustrates you,” Kisnorbo said.

“It’s a moment we can learn from, we have got to realise that until the whistle is gone, we can’t switch off, we can’t be lazy in our passing and any team can punish you.

“I was pleased with the way we managed it because sometimes you’re not going to score every chance you go forward so I was very happy with the way we managed the ball in our half.”

However, it was yet another game without a win for Newcastle who ended their Melbourne stay off the back of another loss.

It was the 11th straight game without a win for the Jets who now enter the last six games of the season rooted to the bottom of the table.

“They’re a good team and they’re in the position on the ladder they’re in for that reason,” Newcastle coach Craig Deans said.

“We were under no illusions about how difficult the game was going to be and we tried our best to keep them quiet but there’s only so long you can keep that amount of quality players quiet for.”

Deans was in particular pleased with how his side didn’t throw the towel in despite going 3-0 down in the second-half.

“To be fair to the players, to go 3-0 down and not to throw the towel in and keep working hard and score a goal and make it 3-1 and still have the energy and commitment to keep working hard … I can’t fault their effort,” Deans said.

“It’s just the difference quality that was the difference in the game.”

Newcastle will return home to take on Sydney FC on Saturday as they seek to end their winless run.