Melbourne were comfortably sitting on top of the ladder four weeks ago, but three successive losses to Wellington, Perth and Newcastle has seen the club drop down to third place, just one point clear of Central Coast and Wellington.

Sydney are also in trouble, slipping down to sixth place, but a win this Saturday night at Telstra Dome would move them equal to Melbourne as the race for the top four intensifies.

Fresh after signing a new two-year deal with the club, Celeski admits the team has been a bit flat and need to be more committed defensively if they are to get back on the winners list.

"I just put it down to us being a little flat, I don't think we've been playing that badly to be honest, we could have gone a couple of goals up in each game and I think we just need to take our chances and that's been the difference," he said after training on Tuesday.

"I just think we might need to be a bit more desperate, defensively just closing down a little bit quicker and all that sort of stuff."

There is no doubt that Melbourne's rivalry with Sydney is one of the biggest in the Hyundai A-League, and Celeski is looking forward to the contest, especially given that it is at Telstra Dome and should draw a big crowd.

"It's a big game, the Melbourne-Sydney derby, especially at home now, we're looking to bounce back from our last three results too, so hopefully there's plenty of attacking football and the crowd enjoys it.

"We've been on the road for a little while now and we're just looking forward to playing a few games at home in front of our home crowd."

Celeski also shrugged off suggestions that the off-field betting scandal involving skipper Kevin Muscat and Grant Brebner has had any impact on the performance of the team.

"Not at all," he said when asked if it was a distraction. "We're all professionals, there's a games to be played and that's what we are focused on.

"The boys made the decision, they're gonna have to pay the consequences, but we're in no position to comment, it's got nothing to do with me or any of the other boys so they'll deal with it how they have to.

"(We're) 100 percent behind them, they are good blokes on and off the field."