De Laet is a quality player and a man of strong character: he has played through the past few weeks with injuries but has not shirked his responsibility, and Joyce paid handsome tribute to a player he first coached when De Laet was a teenager at Royal Antwerp, then subsequently in the Manchester United reserve team. "Ritchie started his career as a forward ... he played in the reserves for Manchester United before, he scored hat-tricks to win leagues in the reserves, so it's not a position he's never played before," Joyce said. "I think it's easier for him playing centre-forward than it is playing right wing." Joyce was particularly pleased with the character De Laet has shown. The coach is working hard to change the culture at City – which is one of the reasons for his stand-off with out-of-favour striker Bruno Fornaroli – and it's fair to say that De Laet's attitude is one he prefers far more than the Uruguayan's. "He's put himself out there, it's been documented a couple of weeks ago that he was diagnosed as being out for two months.

Loading "He was told to rest, he didn't choose to rest, he chose to play and has actually shown a great act of unselfishness because he has put his career at risk ... if it had gone pear-shaped he's going back from here with no contract in England and maybe injured and being out for the rest of the season. "We have had to manage him through it, we have had to give him injections nearly every game. "But he has shown a desire to come to the country and play, not for monetary reasons ... it would have been an easier choice for him to duck it, and choose not to play, not put himself out there, but the last few weeks he has put himself on the line. "He has played in a variety of positions in the last few weeks, he's not totally fit. We have had to manage his training, but he has contributed because he wants to help the cause of the club."

He contrasted De Laet's fortitude with that of other, unnamed players he has dealt with in a long career in the game. "You get some players, it's ingrained in them. He has a pride in himself, and it's ingrained in him to help the football club ... you get some players who are selfish and just care about money, looking after themselves and having a nice lifestyle and having nice meals particularly here in Melbourne. "He could have stayed injured for a couple of weeks, gone out to the tennis, pottered around and had a nice life. "He's put himself up to be shot because he is a marquee ... he's put himself out there for the good of the team and the cause." This win lifts City to 23 points, and means that Joyce's team has now taken 16 points from its last seven games.

"I thought the first half we played some good football. I thought we would have been good value for two or three goals," he said. "I was disappointed that some good chances didn't end with goals. There was maybe one good save but some poor finishes, ones that didn't even hit the target. We could have made the game a lot easier for ourselves. "We had to weather it, we did and I thought we deserved the three points. But we could have made the game a lot easier for ourselves in the first." It's not just De Laet who came in for praise. "I think everyone has stood up in the past few weeks.

"Curtis Good has come in, a Melbourne lad on minimum wage, no money, desperate to play for the football club. Lachie Wales is another one, Harrison Delbridge is another one, ask him to play in goal and he would do a job for you," he said. "Look around the team and there's a lot of people like that. There are times when we could be better at certain things, but it's certainly not for lack of effort, lack of commitment to the cause of trying to help the club grow."