Former Chelsea man Keenan tells au.fourfourtwo.co that Victory will be ready when the A-League kicks off in just under two weeks when Melbourne travels to Wellington.

“We just seem to be conceding sucker-punch goals,” the 24-year-old explains. “We're not playing badly. Teams are wary of you defensively because you are the champions. We haven't been able to play Archie [Thompson] as much as we would've liked, too.

“I'd be lying if I said it wasn't important to get a few wins up and get into a few heads that we're still the champions, but really, we're not playing badly at all.”

Keenan was even honest enough to admit his own mistake cost a goal in a recent goal. But he's not too concerned.

“I was at fault for one goal and Ernie pointed it out in our video analysis. Look, I'd rather be having our mistakes out of the way now before the A-League kicks off.”

Victory lost to Sydney 1-0 on the weekend at home to maintain a run of games without a win in the pre-season cup. However, coach Ernie Merrick was pleased with the performance, echoing Keenan's optimisim that it'll be alright on the night once the curtain goes up on the new season.

“We did great, I’m really happy with the performance in terms of the passing and the confidence of the team,” Merrick said.

“I don’t think we’ll ever play such a high quality game and not score again. We were good in the first half and even better in the second, and I did take a lot from that. The worst thing that could have happened is if we played badly and won 1-0.”

One Victory insider tells us that the squad has trained very hard, "so it's only natural with players being a little leg weary and all the travel to Asia in the off-season that they've had a slow pre-season."

As for Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez – the big-name Victory import – Keenan's keen to give the World Cup player his dues.

“He scored a great goal in Darwin recently against Perth Glory. You can tell he's the real deal when you train with him.”

Hernandez is expected to supply the balls for Allsopp and Thompson while scoring a few himself. But fitness is the current concern for the talented playmaker.

And speaking of fitness, Keenan admits the longer A-League off-season “lets you build up your fitness progressively as opposed to short sharp European pre-seasons where you get physically smashed” but he adds that it's difficult to motivate yourself when you know there isn't a meaningful game on the weekend.

“In that respect, you can lose your edge.”

That said, the former Westerlo, Willem II, Brentford and Chelsea man has settled into the southern capital very well. He's found a place in the trendy inner-city suburb of Port Melbourne and he's even attended a few AFL games at Telstra Dome.

“I wouldn't say I'm a fan but I've seen a few games... it is funny when you see the linesman taking throw ins!”

But with the A-League about to kick off, Keenan is firmly focused on the round-ball variety of footy. And his message is simple to the masses of Victory fans: “Be patient. We're starting to gel.”