Dimi Petratos doesn't like to look back and compare seasons or teams.
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But the Jets talisman is adamant he gained more from the disappointment of last season than the highs of the club's ride to the A-League grand final the previous campaign - a breakthrough year in which the attacking midfielder was a finalist in Johnny Warren Medal player of the year award and earned a trip to the World Cup.
"In that first season, I came back from Korea and had a point to prove," he said. "There were a lot of new players who came to the club. If you are comparing season-to-season, in the first season everything gelled. The second year, I created the same amount of chances but we just weren't scoring. That happens.
"I learned a lot from last year. Seasons don't go to waste. You can learn a lot as a player. How to deal with expectations people around you put on you and what the fans expect. I feel like I have grown as a player, been able to adapt and continue to play my game and get better each week."
After a steady start to the new season, Petratos has shifted up a gear in the past two rounds. He was a constant threat in a 1-all draw with Perth and threaded a sublime through-ball for Angus Thurgate to score the winner in the breakthrough 1-0 win over Western United.
"The most frustrating thing is to not have a win," Petratos said. "Now that we have a win, it builds confidence and gives us momentum going into the next game. The more games we play, the better we will get. Even myself, I feel like the more games I play the better I feel. It is important to start the season well, but it is even more important to finish the second half of the season strong.
"I am always trying to improve as a player and take my game to the next level. I don't believe I have reached my peak. If you look at my first year here, I think I can do better than that. With experience each year, you have to do better."
Next for the Jets are Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night.
After an impressive start, Wanderers have lost two on the bounce, the latest a controversial 3-2 defeat to Melbourne City.
"They are obviously a very good team and have started off strong," Petratos said. "We have to be positive and believe we can go into each game and get the result. That is how we are thinking. We respect them as a team, but we have to be positive."
The Jets won all three games against Wanderers last season by a combined margin of 10-3. Petratos scored in two of the wins.
"Our history in the past couple of years against them has been good," Petratos said.
"We have to replicate what we did against Western United - attack as a team and defend as a team."
The Jets had last weekend off courtesy of the bye.
However, Petratos said they had increased the training workload to ensure there wasn't a let down.
"We worked pretty hard, had a lot of good sessions and a good game among ourselves on Saturday." he said. "That was a good hit out.
"We tried to make the week as realistic as possible, like we didn't miss a game. Even in the friendly game we scored about seven goals. We have been focusing on the finding the back of the net and working really hard."
