The Wellington Phoenix have lost their third match in a row, this time to Adelaide United at home.

New season, new coach, new players, but the same old problems remain for the Wellington Phoenix.

Phoenix coach Mark Rudan was left to question the mentality of some of his players after their 3-1 home loss to Adelaide United on Saturday night.

They were up 1-0 just before halftime, but a Tom Doyle own goal before the break saw heads drop and two goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half condemned them to their third-straight loss.

PHOTOSPORT Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Filip Kurto, centre, helps team-mate Tom Doyle to his feet as captain Andrew Durante looks on after the final whistle on Saturday.

It was almost exactly one year since former Phoenix coach Darije Kalezic sat in front of a post-match press conference and questioned his side's mental abilities. That was after a 3-2 loss to Melbourne Victory where his side gave up a 2-0 halftime lead.

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Kalezic said at that point that his side did not have winners "because if you have winners this can never happen".

PHOTOSPORT The Wellington Phoenix's Andrew Durante, left, and Tom Doyle after the loss to Adelaide United on Saturday.

Rudan was by no means echoing that sort of blunt rhetoric, but his concerns about his squad were in the same mental area of the game.

And it was something he anticipated would be a challenge when he joined the club.

"Speaking to some former coaches and people around the club, it was a big issue. It was a constant message from all of them, the mentality.

PHOTOSPORT Wellington Phoenix coach Mark Rudan has been left with a lot to ponder after Saturday night's loss.

"That's why we tried to work so hard to turn that around in the off-season. We've got mental coaches at the club as well that we've brought in on that side of things.

"We all need to take responsibility because it's an area I felt strongly about to try and change around and we're still not there yet."

Rudan said there was a sense of inevitability about Adelaide's second goal after his side came into the changing room at halftime with their heads down.

Some players remained positive, but others needed to be lifted up.

It was something he said they would continue to work on, but did not know when a shift in collective mentality would take place.

"I don't know. Maybe it's going to take a year. Maybe it's going to take two years. It's been a constant at this club, as you know, you guys have been here for a while. I can't answer that, but we're going to stick through it, we're going to keep working through it.

PHOTOSPORT Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Filip Kurto makes a save against Adelaide United.

"It's a process that each individual needs to go through themselves because everyone is different, everyone reacts differently to certain moments, be it in the game or outside of football. I want fighters here. I want people that are just going to turn around and step up and go for the next action and next action. That is most important. We all make mistakes. I keep telling them all that. It's the next action that is the most important. So I don't know, but we'll keep working at it."

Rudan maintained his players had enough quality and skill to compete at this level.

He said they had shown there were capable of doing so in patches, but needed a great level of consistency to match it with teams across the 90-plus minutes.

"They show they can do the right things, get in the right areas at the right time. First touch. Body shape. Move the ball where it needs to go. Timing of the run. They've shown that. They need to do it more consistently. They're professional footballers. We work on these things non-stop. Passages of play, patterns of play, if they show it once then they can do it again and again.

"It's the mentality, it's changing that. I believe in my players, I still back my players because they've shown they can do it enough times. It's just about doing it consistently well enough for 90 minutes of the game. That's what we need to get to."

Their next chance to prove that will be against the early league pacesetters Perth Glory at Westpac Stadium next Sunday.

AT A GLANCE

Adelaide United 3 (Tom Doyle (own goal) 45', Ken Ilso 47' 64') Wellington Phoenix 1 (Mandi 14'). HT: 1-1