Western Sydney Wanderers coach Kat Smith credits her players’ ability to find their inner Lewis Hamilton as key to breaking their winless Liberty A-League run.
The Wanderers ended a 15-game and 364-day wait for victory in a 2-0 defeat of Melbourne City last Sunday.
The winless run was the third-longest since the competition’s inception and Smith’s side will be hoping to engineer another upset when they take on unbeaten league leaders Western United on Saturday.
“At the start of the year we really spoke about how this isn’t Formula One and your performances last year don’t set your pole position for this season,” Smith told AAP.
We wanted the players to understand that each year and each game is a clean slate and we continue to move forward.
“After every frustration we get those windscreen wipers out and we clear it and we go again.”
Smith’s side had endured some testing results on their barren run.
This season alone they pushed Sydney FC close in two derbies, suffered one-goal losses to Adelaide and Brisbane, and should have got more from a 1-1 draw against Wellington on their travels across the ditch.
“There were some things that were out of our control and you have to remain positive and stay on the course to build towards that performance from last weekend,” Smith said.
“When you have performances like the other day you want to do it again and we want to use it as a springboard for the rest of January.”
Smith also hailed the impact of Sarina Bolden, who arrived at the club earlier this month.
The Filipina forward has experience in Japan and the US and has made an instant impact for the Wanderers.
“She has brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” Smith said.
“There’s endless positivity and that’s something that when you’re scouting players, their highlight clips won’t show.
“To bring that into a group that’s not had the results they wanted, that can have a really good effect on your training environment.”