Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe claimed St Albans Saints' strong start to Tuesday night's Westfield FFA Cup tie was down to his side trying to force the tempo.
The second-tier Victorian club had Perth on the back foot in the opening half hour at Knights Stadium in Melbourne's west but the Glory eventually took the lead before the break thanks to Nebojsa Marinkovic's free-kick.
Goals after half-time to Jamie McLaren, Andy Keogh and Marinkovic again saw Perth win 4-1 but the score was harsh on St Albans, who were good value throughout the contest.
Lowe, however, dismissed any concerns about his team's performance less than three weeks before the Hyundai A-League season.
"I think the big thing was early on that we didn't really control the tempo of the game," he said.
"We tended to force things a little bit, which then allowed then to have the ball and play forward early."
Lowe added: "They [St Albans] looked dangerous on set plays, the odd flick-on, no sustained play really.
"But I thought it was a decent performance by us, we were just really professional about the way we did our job."
The win saw Perth advance to the quarter-finals of the FFA Cup where they will host fellow Hyundai A-League club Melbourne Victory.
Melbourne defeated Glory 3-0 in a friendly earlier this month but Lowe was happy to draw Victory, especially at home.
"I think that's fantastic," Perth's boss said.
"It's another tough game obviously but we're at home, which will be good.
"We've travelled a fairly extensive amount in our pre-season games, so looking forward to a home game and less travel."
