Four games into his A-League adventure, Ritchie De Laet has already hit a career-best mark for goals.
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His two goals for Melbourne City is his best haul in a season after a 12-year career featuring just six senior strikes.
And like his goal tally, the Belgian marquee man is eager to see his club's form grow after an up-and-down first month.
City defeated Wellington 2-0 on Friday night with their most-convincing showing of the season.
De Laet scored the opener before Bruno Fornaroli made the points safe on the hour mark.
The result means Warren Joyce's side can look back on their first four matches for a points haul of seven, which means they head into the international break inside the top three.
"Are we happy with seven points? Well, we're up there," De Laet said.
"Seven points is positive. Lost one game, won two - we're in the positive half of the table.
"We're still improving, there's new players and we're not clicking into gear yet but we're not far off."
De Laet said the key to rebounding from their 3-0 home drubbing by Sydney FC was to be relentless with the ball.
"We've been more positive in our play," he said. "We kept playing forward, kept being positive and, eventually, the goal from Bruno fell in. I think we were comfortable for the 90 minutes."
The 29-year-old's strike against the Phoenix might have been his longest-range effort too, a bomb from more than 25 metres after Lachlan Wales' cut-back fell in his path.
"It just opened up, really. The ball was there to be hit," he said.
"If you don't shoot, it doesn't go in so I thought I'd have a pop.
"The best I've done is two in a season. Hopefully, there's more to come but, first and foremost, I'm a defender.
"I'm not there to score the goals. We've got other players to do that but I'm happy to chip in when I get the opportunity."
Australian Associated Press
