Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat claimed he was "grateful" to progress to the FFA Cup quarter-finals after a tight 1-0 win over Hume City on Wednesday.
Besart Berisha's first-half penalty was enough for Victory to overcome the NPL Victoria club at ABD Stadium, but Muscat was clearly unimpressed with his team's performance after the match.
Muscat bemoaned Victory's inability to retain possession, with Hume having looked particularly strong in the second half without managing to score an equaliser.
"Grateful in the end because it wasn't a good performance from ourselves and, on the night, I thought we got away with it because we didn't keep the ball anywhere near as well as we should," Muscat said at his press conference.
But while Hume fashioned a handful of half chances to level the contest in Melbourne's northern suburbs, Muscat insisted the home side had never truly threatened Victory.
"I thought Hume were fantastic… but I don't think we were under any threat of losing the game but I don't want to win 1-0 and play like that," he said.
"I'm far from satisfied with that performance, albeit we're into the next round."
James Troisi made his first appearance for Victory in over two years having returned to the A-League club at the start of the month, and Muscat lauded the attacking midfielder's display.
"First half, I thought he was the best player on the park," Muscat said.
"We missed a lot of opportunities to get our attacking players on the ball.
"I can't recall any quality service to the front three and then your structure goes because you're always fighting."
