Now winless in their past five hitouts, a second-half capitulation saw the Jets go down 4-0 to  Victory in their round 13 clash, the fourth time this season they have conceded four goals and the third such occasion in the past month.

A ninth-minute goal from a sublime Robbie Kruse, 61st-minute strike from Migjen Basha, 64th-minute goal from Andrew Nabbout and 86th-minute own goal from right-back Mathew Millar paced Victory, who are now knocking on the door of the top-six.

Dispiritingly for the visitors, whereas in previous games they’d been able to at least create something in the final third – even if their end-product was lacking - there wasn’t even much in the way of attacking moves to write home about.

“It was definitely a tough day at the office for us,” Merrick said post-game. “I just feel as though, once again, we gave away a cheap goal on nine minutes.

“So, we were chasing our tails early doors. We’ve done that a few times recently.

“I thought toward the end of the first half we started playing some much better football and came out in the second half and looked really good for ten to fifteen minutes. Then they had a break and a clear shot on goal that was parried by our goalkeeper down to the feet of Basha, I think it was, and then it was 2-0 and the wheels fell off and we really struggled after that.

“Really, there was no chance of us scoring goals.

“In the front third we didn’t even look like we were going to score. I can’t think of Thomas making one save. If you’re not going to score goals, you’re going to struggle to win games.

“It’s very difficult. We’ve got a good enough side to be competitive but we’re not competitive if we can’t score a goal.

“There’s no doubt a mental element there. I just think that there’s a lot of players out there that are much better than the way that they’re playing but because we don’t score, the frustration builds up. It’s very important that you get an end product at some stage.”

With the likes of Abdiel Arroyo, Wes Hoolahan and Nigel Boogaard all missing for the Jets, getting a result at Victory – even if they were able to get something going in attack – was never going to be an easy task.

“I think everyone’s aware that it’s a budget squad we’ve put together,” Merrick explained “Three of our starting XI players have been out for a while.

“Our captain Nigel [Boogaard] who is a really good organiser as well as a good player at the back. So, we’re missing him. Wes Hoolahan, ex-Norwich City Premier League player, he’s been missed. And Arroyo, the Panamanian international.

“So not only have we got a budget team, we’ve got three key players out of that team who are all staring XI players. There’s a lot of boys putting in a good effort but it’s a team game. If you haven’t good quality players around you it’s hard to play good football.

"Dimi [Petratos] was very flat tonight. Compare that with the Dimi that played in the first season when I was there when we finished in the Grand Final, he had quality players around him.

“Andrew Nabbout was one of them. Joey Champness. We had Roy O’Donovan. We’ve lost a lot of goal scorers and he provides quality passes to goal scorers and without having good players around your work remains unfinished."

The loss means that Newcastle will remain rooted to the bottom of the A-League table heading into a difficult fortnight in which they will host top-of-the-table Sydney FC and then travel to face second-placed Melbourne City.

Nonetheless, Merrick says he isn’t allowing the pressure to get to him.

“No, I’ve never felt pressure really,” he said. “Because I’m only a caretaker coach. I know I’m going to go sooner rather than later. I won’t change the way I coach or go and blame the players. I take a lot of the blame myself.

“I want to do well with the team for the sake of our fans, who have been long-suffering. And that’s the pressure I’d put on myself.

“And people are fighting fires at the moment, they’re under pressure. They’re under real pressure. We forget that we’re playing a game.”