Victory, second, will need a win against Perth Glory on Friday night to give them any chance of catching Sydney FC which are five points ahead on top of the table.

The Glory are undefeated in their last seven games against Muscat’s men, conceding more than a single goal only twice in that period.

Muscat drew similarities from Glory’s situation to Wellington’s, believing no teams can afford a slump in the A-League.

“It’s amazing what a couple of results does to the perception of everyone,” Muscat said.

“Wellington get a couple of results now, people are touting them for top four… and rightly so, because you build some momentum and Perth are always difficult to beat.

“They’ve had some issues this season but they seem to have steadied, it’s no different, we’re going to have to be very good tomorrow night.

“Everyone’s putting their hand up wanting to play tomorrow night, no one is saying it’s too tough. I think more than anything, results, as much as I preach to the group ‘performances should give you confidence’, there’s no doubt that performance with results gives you great confidence.

“We took a little bit of a slap in the face on Tuesday night and we’re looking for a reaction tomorrow night.”

Muscat admits there will be some rotations in the squad due to fatigue and the suspensions of Jason Geria and Fahid Ben Khalfallah.

The Victory boss was adamant none of his players would be taking anything for granted against the Glory after being embarrassed by the Nix.

“We were pleased with the way we were going in the six weeks and the results matched those performances,” he said.

“We get all excited by it, it just goes to show if you’re a little bit off and you get punished. It’s as simple as that, I’m sick of saying it.

“You see it happen to teams every week, you’re a little bit off and take things for granted slightly and then you find yourself in a whole you can’t dig yourself out of, that won’t happen tomorrow night in Perth.

“We’ll freshen the team up, get more energy into the team and we’ll go across to Perth with a clear intent to take three points.”