Adelaide United coach Carl Veart denies the Reds' busy transfer window has been a distraction to his side after they slumped to a 4-0 A-League Men loss to Central Coast Mariners.
Despite plenty of activity, the Reds have only added former captain Stefan Mauk to their squad - and an already-packed midfield - while four players have departed.
First-choice keeper Joe Gauci has signed for Premier League side Aston Villa, while third-choice keeper Steven Hall is also EPL-bound, joining Brighton & Hove Albion, while young defender Alex Popovic moved to K League 1 side Gwangju FC.
United winger Bernardo has also sought a release to sign for fellow A-League side Macarthur.
While Veart still holds hope of bolstering his squad, he intends to make the most of the players at his disposal.
"We've got the players that are here and we have to work with them, and they have to work," he said.
"We need to bring players in but we're putting eleven players out on the pitch and the eleven players that go out there have to do their jobs.
"At points tonight, they made mistakes or couldn't quite get the pressure on the ball when it needed to be and we got punished.
"We have to work harder – I keep saying that many times when we have these performances. The effort is there most of the time but at crucial times when we need to get players heads down, or we get beaten, our reaction to get back is just not good enough."
With Popovic departing and both Nick Ansell and Lachie Barr sidelined with injury, Veart was forced into yet another different central defensive pairing.
36-year-old defensive midfielder Isaias retained his makeshift stopper role, where he has been a standout, while Veart handed a debut to 19-year-old Panagiotis Kikianis.
Despite the heavy defeat, the pair performed admirably, with Veart praising both.
"I think Pana played quite well; some of his passing was very good and that's what we expect from Pana," he said.
"We knew he wouldn't last the game. I think it was maybe last July the last time he played for our NPL team, so he's had a long time out with injury but I think he was very good tonight.
"And Isa, he was most probably our best player on the park. And when a 36-year-old is running past a lot of other players in our team, we have to ask the question."
The loss was the Reds second in a row and leaves them in eighth, three points off sixth-placed Melbourne City.
