With the exception of the last 20 minutes, Glory looked nothing like the side that has dominated the competition so far this season as their midfield was pressured out of the contest by Gold Coast.

It may have only been a 1-0 result courtesy of Jason Culina's 23rd-minute goal, but the United skipper could have had a hat-trick to his name as he ballooned a superb chance over the bar in the 29th minute before having a netted effort in the second half narrowly flagged offside.

Mitchell, though, said there had been no indication throughout the week that his side would be in for such an off day.

"They did their homework and did very well," Mitchell said. "Stopped us playing our natural game and we didn't have enough to overcome that.

"Obviously losing your undefeated record and losing at home, is very disappointing. But, you know, we didn't deserve to win today and we had too many players probably not at the races.

"That's the most concerning point."

Mitchell said his immediate concern was to work out why his side had appeared off their game.

"You look at the situation," Mitchell said. "Did we train too hard this week because they didn't look fresh?

"They looked a bit sluggish today. You ask the players and you'll get some feedback from them individually and there was some good players out there but the majority of them weren't good enough."

Although Mitchell denied his side had underestimated Gold Coast, opposition coach Miron Bleiberg accused Glory of getting carried away with their bright start to the campaign.

"It happened to them what happened to us last year," Bleiberg said. "Sometimes you believe that you're better than what you are.

"I remember we were running riot then all of a sudden against Fury they beat us 2-0 at home, why, because we believed what the papers said about us.

"Perth played against us like a carbon copy of the way they played against Wellington (last week), so obviously we prepared for it."