After sitting second on the A-League table behind Sydney FC for the previous five rounds, the derby loss to Melbourne Victory now sees City sit fourth, nine points behind the undefeated Sky Blues.

Following their 4-1 thrashing of Perth Glory, Brosque said other teams are starting to think Sydney were running away with the title, but Cahill is adamant City has time to mount a challenge.

“That comment can be taken out of context,” he said. “Alex is a very down to earth guy and obviously, they are out in front the deserve to be out in front, their results have been resilient and at the moment they are the team to catch up.

"There is a lot of football left and the second phase for us is as a team for Melbourne City we’ll be totally focused on picking up a lot of points hopefully in the next ten games.”

After failing to win their last three A-League games, Melbourne City is experiencing an FFA Cup hangover. Following two tough draws against Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar, Cahill denied their 2-1 loss in the derby was due to the heavy toll their previous encounters took on the players.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “We were sitting second until that loss, we are sitting fourth now after the results and winning some important silverware.

 “You’ve got to level it out and to win the A-League from what I’ve seen in the past you have to win two thirds of the season, it’s going to be a big second phase for us but at the same time we’ve got depth in the squad.

“We’ve got to be able to rotate and understand it’s a tough schedule. I’m seeing it and I’m feeling it. Now that I’m here and I can keep speak more about it I don’t think it’s taken its toll.

"For us we just got to measure our belief and measure out the season. it’s going to be a long season for a lot of clubs especially the ones at the top.”

With Socceroos qualifiers beginning in March, Cahill said his main focus was winning games for his club.

“My target now is the next ten games for Melbourne City," he said. “It’s really important for us the next phase for our development. 

"It’s a big moment for us and for me personally. Hopefully people can see the effort that I’m putting in to stay on the pitch and to be involved in the A-League as much as possible and to fully commit. To be as fresh as possible and to be as competitive as possible and hopefully get the right results we need to hopefully win some silverware again."