Canberra Olympic coach Frank Cachia insists it is not time to hit the panic button despite the reigning grand final winner making a sluggish start to its title defence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Olympic will be out to snap its dry spell in the Canberra National Premier League when it hosts undefeated Belconnen United at O'Connor Enclosed on Sunday.
Olympic is fifth on the table and seven points adrift of joint leaders Canberra FC and Belconnen after coming up empty in its past three fixtures.
Last weekend's 2-1 defeat to the Football Federation Australia Centre of Excellence was preceded by losses to Tuggeranong United (3-2) and Woden Valley (2-0).
"We've been playing well, we just can't seem to score and take our chances,'' Cachia said.
"The first thing you do is don't panic, and get back to what was working before.
"We've been getting plenty of advice, but I sat down with the boys yesterday [Friday] before training and told them to get back to what we know, don't overcomplicate things and go back to what was working.''
Slow starts have been Olympic's biggest concern.
It was down 2-0 against Tuggeranong after 15 minutes and behind by the same scoreline on the 20 minute mark against Woden.
Olympic will need to be on its game to compete with a Belconnen side that was extremely unlucky not to grab all three points against Canberra FC last weekend.
Canberra FC substitute Josip Jadric's header in the 94th minute earned the league champions a point in the 2-2 result and kept its unbeaten start through five rounds intact.
"It doesn't get easy, but at the same time it's a really good opportunity to restake your claims a bit as well and build some confidence,'' Cachia said.
"It looked like Belconnen United had a fair run of the game.''
On the plus side for Olympic, it will welcome back experienced goalkeeper Angelo Konstantinou from his commitments with the national futsal team at the Asian Cup in Vietnam.
In the weekend's other games, Canberra FC hosts Canberra City at Deakin Stadium, Cooma Tigers take on the FFA Centre of Excellence at Nijong Oval and Monaro Panthers and Woden Valley square off at Riverside Stadium.
SUNDAY: Canberra National Premier League: Canberra FC v Canberra City at Deakin Stadium. Cooma Tigers v FFA Centre of Excellence at Nijong Oval. Canberra Olympic v Belconnen United at O'Connor Enclosed. Monaro Panthers v Woden Valley at Riverside Stadium. All games at 3pm.
