Carl Veart says he won't rush Nestory Irankunda back into his first XI after starting the Bayern Munich-bound wonderkid on the bench in Adelaide's latest A-League Men loss.
The Reds suffered a third successive defeat for the time in two years when they were pipped 1-0 by Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday.
Irankunda has turned into a regular starter for Adelaide this season but found himself back among the substitutes after his tearful substitution against Brisbane the previous week.
The teen whizz looked the most likely Adelaide player to score when he was introduced at halftime and threatened to cancel out the Wanderers' only goal.
But Veart says even if the gifted 17-year-old can provide a spark for the struggling Reds, he is looking to take a long-term view on what is best for Irankunda
"It's a balancing act with Nestor," Veart said.
"We're still trying to get him to understand what it takes to play at that top, top level.
"It's a process that we're going along with him.
"We're getting him to understand that if he's playing 45 minutes, 90 minutes or 20 minutes, it doesn't matter what it is, he has to work hard and do the team things."
Adelaide sat sixth after Friday's loss to the Wanderers and despite the narrow defeat Veart was confident they had turned a corner.
The string of three losses is uncharted territory for much of Veart's youthful squad but the Adelaide coach insists they have the right ingredients to return to winning ways.
"We don't change the way that we want to play," Veart said.
"We want to be an attacking side and take games to the opposition and I think the players did that tonight, it was just unfortunate we didn't get a goal.
"The effort from the boys was there all night and they worked hard..
"Sometimes in football, you don't get your rewards from when you work hard.
"But the boys will keep their heads up and we'll keep working.
"We've got Newcastle at home next week and we'll look forward to playing in front of our home fans and getting the three points for Christmas."
