Brisbane Roar must get back to hard work to turn their disappointing 5-1 loss to Gold Coast United around according to coach Ange Postecoglou.

The Roar dropped to sixth on the A-League table after suffering their ninth defeat of the season as their Queensland counterparts dismantled them despite an early Brisbane goal through Matt McKay.

New Zealand international Shane Smeltz did most of the damage for United with a hat-trick as a clearly disappointed Postecoglou urged his players to get back to working hard to improve results.

"Hats off to them, they played really well," Postecoglou said. "We're very disappointed but I think it just shows were we are as a football club at the moment.

"We've just got to take the loss on the chin, get on with things and work hard.

"The focus for us now is the match in two weeks against Wellington and we'll be working hard on the track to ensure a better result."

The Roar take on eighth placed Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium in their next clash in the new year on January 9.