Glory now sit three points off sixth place, which is occupied by Brisbane Roar on 28 points. Melbourne Heart (27 points) in seventh spot with Sydney (27) in eighth. 

Edwards sais he was convinced Glory could still now make it into sixth position and reach the finals,

"I always said it was going to come down to the last game," said the caretaker coach. "It's not only about results, results are a given. We're out there to try and win the game. 

"Generally, if the performance matches what we're trying to do, the results will follow and it's part of a process."

Perth took the lead through Chris Harold in the 19th minute when he blasted home the opener past Vedran Janjetovic.

But the Sky Blues responded through marquee man Alessandro Del Piero with a 30-yard wonder strike.

Kiwi international Shane Smeltz then regained Perth's lead with a classy side-footed finish from a Scott Jamieson cross.

Edwards had said in the lead-up to the match that his team would try and starve Del Piero of possession, but conceded after the match that was easier said than done.

"I think it was going reasonably well until he got the ball and smacked it into the top corner," he said.  "It was a world class goal. I was on the bench and I even enjoyed it. 

"There's nothing you can do about those types of goals except maybe close him down a bit quicker.

"It just shows you that he's a quality player."

Perth Glory had 55 percent of the possession and 14 shots to Sydney's 10, but Edwards said he was only pleased with parts of the performance.  

"Pleased to get the three points. It keeps us with our slim hopes of making the finals," he said. "At times I thought we played some really good attacking brand of football.

"We're looking to do that for the whole 90 minutes, but that's a work in progress."