Glory went behind when Nix midfielder Tim Brown scored inside the first minute, but Perth had two clear one-on-one chances to equalise through Michael Baird and Jamie Coyne only to be denied by Wellington keeper Mark Paston on both occasions.

"Losing an early goal wasn't good," Ferguson said after the game. "We defended well but just couldn't get the ball in the net.

"You've got to be composed and you've got to ruthless. I think if you get one-on-ones you don't try to chip the keeper, you try and put it in with pace."

Ferguson added: "Positive signs were there from the young kids. It's disappointing to lose a goal in the first minute or so, but we tried to come back into the game, we had a couple of one-on-ones and a couple of good chances as well, but it's not to be our day."

Glory, who have collected just one point from their past nine matches, face Adelaide United in midweek and Ferguson said there would be changes for the game.

"I'll probably will have to try and re-build again," he said. "The kids can't back up three games in a row.

"We'll see how they are, we've got a few injuries, Jacob Burns is missing, so we'll see what happens."

Wellington Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert praised Paston for his performance in denying Glory.

"I always say, that's what keepers are there for," he said.

"He earned his dollars tonight. Mark's had a wonderful 12 months and came to the forefront tonight when we needed it."

Herbert added: "We had to tough it out tonight. I think there were two teams who wanted to kickstart their season and get things moving and it's fallen nicely for us tonight.

"All the pundits have kind of written the bottom five off, but with 17 games to go that's nearly as long as some of the seasons we've played."

Wellington's next match is at home to Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.