Coach Tony Gustavsson is confident he can strike a balance between preparing the Matildas for major tournaments with keeping his players' confidence up amid mixed results.
Australia suffered a 3-0 loss to the United States on Saturday in the first of two friendly matches against the world champions and have just one win from four games since the Tokyo Olympics.
But Gustavsson said his focus was on delivering a tough preparation for January's Asian Cup and ultimately, the 2023 Women's World Cup on home soil.
"I'll try to say it in a humble way so it doesn't sound like it's a head coach trying to defend himself from bad results," Gustavsson said on Monday, a day out from the second friendly at Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium.
"When we're playing in this kind of preparation mode it's about trying to play scoreboard blind, meaning (we don't) get too influenced by the scoreboard during the game or in between the games or prepping for training.
"That does not mean we're not trying to win. I said we tried to treat (Saturday's game) as a World Cup final and we will with tomorrow's game as well, do everything we can to go out and win that game.
"But if I wanted to build that kind of false confidence, I would stick with some simple games and win some games and then people talk about 'it looks so good'.
"But then maybe that would also be a little bit naive because when it comes to tournaments (where) you play the best teams, you're not really ready."
Gustavsson stressed in the decade prior to his tenure, the Matildas had rarely faced top-quality opponents consistently outside of major tournaments, which they needed to do in order to reach the next level.
Earlier this year, he led the Matildas to fourth place, their best ever result, at the Olympics, after difficult friendly matches against Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.
"Now we're playing (those teams) on more consistent basis, so that means we're losing more. But I think we need that, we need to get exposed in the things we need to develop to be ready for the World Cup '23," he said.
"That's the way to build confidence because then the players know we've done it over and over and over again and we learn from it and now when we get into a tournament, we're ready for it.
"Not just the potential easier games, but also the tougher games."
Gustavsson tested debutant Jessika Nash and fellow teenager Courtney Nevin as a central defensive pairing on Saturday, a decision he conceded some would consider "naive", especially after the US scored just 24 seconds in.
But he was confident of finding the solution to a leaky defence.
Australia could either change defensive formation or personnel for Tuesday's game.
Veteran Clare Polkinghorne (rested) is no certainty to return while Alanna Kennedy (quad) won't start and will be on limited minutes at best.
Australian Associated Press
