United have drawn four matches from five so far and are in seventh place despite scoring more goals than any other team.

But Ontong believes United’s first win may come this weekend, even though they’re playing the table-topping Central Coast Mariners.

“The results have been a little frustrating but the players are staying very positive,” he said.

“We’re not so far off. We’re putting in some good performances and I’m sure we’ll soon get our momentum going. These draws are killing us! I don’t know what it is but I’m sure our win will come soon.

“The Mariners have been playing some great football and they can’t do much wrong at the moment. They’ve pretty much won all their matches so it’s going to be an excellent game."

He added: “They’ll give us tough competition but the boys are really buzzing for it and I’m sure we’ll get a good result out of the game.”

Ontong rates Dean Heffernan as one of the Mariners’ best players, having trained with him in Germany. The defensive player spent two weeks trialling with Heffernan’s former club Nurnberg.

“I went overseas to trial and he was there with Josh Kennedy and Michael Beauchamp,” he said.

“Matt Spiranovic and I were there and we had a week with the first team. They all looked after us while we were there. We stayed in a hotel but we saw them everyday and they took us out to dinner a few times. He’s a really top bloke."

He added: “Heff is a very good player. Very good engine, aggressive. He’s very passionate about it, good on both feet and definitely one of their top players."

The Australian youth international has had to bide his time since arriving at Adelaide but has ambitions of breaking into the side as a first-team regular before the season is out.

“I came on against Newcastle and I enjoyed it," he said. "I loved being out there so it’s been frustrating for me but I knew it was always going to be tough coming here.

“I don’t intend to stay on the bench so I’m going to work hard each session, wait for my next opportunity and then grab it.

“Aurelio has been happy with the way I’ve been going at training and told me he just wants me to keep doing my thing and work as hard as possible and to make it difficult for him each week to pick the team.

"I think he already is having difficulty picking it with the strong squad that we do have.”