Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg said he expects Sydney FC to still be a challenger for the A-League title despite his team heaping more pressure on the defending champions on Sunday.
Sydney's winless start to the campaign has now stretched to a worrying seven games after they were held to a 1-1 draw by United in an entertaining clash at the SFS.
The result means the Sky Blues remain entrenched on the bottom of the ladder and eight points behind Perth in sixth spot more than two months into the new season.
But the always forthright Bleiberg said it would be a mistake for anyone to write Sydney off despite their current woes.
"Sydney is a good side and I think all the critics that say they will not be around in the finals at the end of the day are making a big mistake," he said.
"I know that Sydney are probably more disappointed than we are (about the result) but I know they are a good side."
"I believe they will do well in the next two games (against North Queensland and Adelaide) and they will be back in the frame."
Bleiberg's kind words will be of little consolation to Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka, whose side is fast running out of time to save their season.
Sydney were close to full strength against Gold Coast with striker Alex Brosque and skipper Terry McFlynn both returning after long injury absences and they made an immediate impact as the home side dominated possession for most of the match.
But they still lacked a cutting edge in attack and failed to sustain constant pressure even when the visitors went down to 10-men after John Curtis' second half red card.
Asked what his team needed to do differently to turn their season around, Lavicka said bluntly: "Score more goals."
"This season our main problem is to score more than one goal in the game."
"We need to improve, especially in attacking third and maybe we need a bit more luck."
"There's frustration for us, for Sydney FC fans and frustration for the board at this moment but football is sometimes like this."
"Last season we reached a great success with a bit of luck and this season we're still waiting and maybe missing some luck."
And with a little bit of fortune Sydney would have wrapped up a much-needed win, with Brosque hitting the post 10 minutes from the end, while Stephan Keller was denied by a sensational save by Glen Moss in stoppage time.
The result will only increase the pressure on the Sky Blues ahead of Wednesday night's home clash with the North Queensland Fury.