Glory were torn to shreds by Victory, who found far too much space and could've scored more had it not been for some good saves by Perth stopper Tando Velaphi.

Mitchell, who needs to take sixth-placed Perth into this season's A-League finals to retain his job according to club owner Tony Sage, acknowledged the performance was well short of good enough.

"We're bitterly disappointed with some elementary defending and some mistakes that we made, that we've got to be better at. That just wasn't acceptable," he said.

Perth might have fancied their chances of an upset at Etihad Stadium, after Melbourne had lost their last two coming into the game, but were taught a lesson.

Mitchell added: "Melbourne are a very good side. Obviously they don't lose many three games on the spin. We spoke about that and there was a good harmony about within the team before the game."

Curiously, prior to kick-off Perth had called for the game to be cancelled due to the state of the Etihad Stadium pitch, but referee Strebre Dilovski ignored their calls.

"We did not want the game to go ahead, but that is no excuse for the result," Mitchell said. "The surface was the same for both sides."

The Glory coach was also quizzed on his decision to play Socceroos hopeful Chris Coyne after his long flights to and from China for a visit to prospective new club Shandong Luneng.

Coyne, who linked up with the Glory before the game in Melbourne, had to be replaced before half-time claiming he was short on energy.

Mitchell added: "Hindsight is wonderful. Maybe if we hadn't had played Chris everyone says 'why didn't you play Chris Coyne?'

"But it's not just Chris, there were other mistakes there and other things that happened within the game that wasn't good enough. As a group we've got to re-group and think about this game on Tuesday now.

"It was a shocker. Second-half we changed the shape a bit and did a little bit better, scored a good goal and created a couple of chances, but it still wasn't good enough."

Indeed, Perth won't have to wait long before they can make amends for their performance, with a clash with bottom-club Adelaide United awaiting them midweek.

Mitchell continued: "In a way it might be a blessing in disguise for us to wake up and say 'okay, we might not make this top six' and the squad we've got we should make the six.

"It's still in our own hands, but we've got to smarten up and take responsibility."