“Sydney are hard to beat at the best of times with 11 players and we know they are hungry for points - but to go down against 10 men is very disappointing,” he said after the game.

“We weren’t trying to sit back. The players just couldn’t get forward. We took too many touches at critical times, we didn’t have too many ideas, we didn’t get in behind, we didn’t overlap, we didn’t make runs from the first third – all in all, it was pretty close to our worst performance of the year.”

He blamed a confidence crisis in the team’s ranks for the poor showing and identified a need for a greater team spirit before the side can bounce back.

“If you don’t have belief in yourself as a footballer that makes life difficult,” he said.” And if you don’t have belief as a group then that makes life a little bit more difficult as well.

“You win together and you lose together. You have to make sure that when you go out together, you have faith in everyone in the team.”

He added: “I felt there were players who lacked self-belief and there were players out there who lacked a little belief in players who were on the pitch at certain times.

“You’ve got to try to get the belief back from certain players for other players. Both parties have to work at it and make sure it’s cohesive. Right now it’s not cohesive.”

Marquee signing Mario Jardel missed an open goal during his ten minutes playing time, although he was flagged offside, but Van Egmond refused to condemn the former superstar.

“Mario is doing his best,” he said. “He’s a lovely guy. He’s a gentleman and a professional. He understands the situation where he is.

“By Mario’s own admission he’s not as sprightly as he was and it makes it a little bit more difficult with the delivery he might have had at his previous clubs and he’s not as fleet footed as he might have been.”

But Van Egmond admitted: “Some of the signings that have come to the club have probably not been what we’ve wanted as far as their effectiveness on the pitch and we’ve looked at different answers.

“My job is to try to make us effective as we can in the final third. Have I settled for a front third with certain players? I’d say no.”

He also defended red carded Ruben Zadkovich’s tackle on Adam Griffiths which led to the Sydney midfielder’s dismissal but conceded studs-up challenges are treated differently in the modern game.

“As far as I was concerned it was a great tackle back in the Marconi days,” he joked. “But now you raise your foot, you’re in trouble.

“That’s just what the rules are. I don’t think there was any malice to try to get Adam Griffiths but the rules have changed… The biggest thing hurt tonight is their pride.”

Sydney are now the bogey team for the Jets with three wins from three.

“Certain teams tend to have the wood on other teams,” added Van Egmond. “Perth is another team that we struggle with - but we play other teams ie Queensland and Melbourne and they seem to have troubles with us.

“It’s something we have to have a good look at. It’s never been discussed whether they feel intimidated or in awe of Sydney - we go out with a real positive attitude and look to play - it’s just that it’s happened we’ve lost three games 1-0.

“Full marks to Sydney.”