Melbourne Heart coach John van 't Schip has thrown being unlucky away as an excuse after his side's dismal showing last night. The Heart were unable to overcome a Newcastle Jets side who were reduced to ten men in the 8th minute, eventually losing 2-0, to notch up an unwanted record of five matches without a goal.

Despite having 25 shots on goal to the Jets' two, the Heart were incapable of scoring and their showing left their Dutch coach scratching his head ahead of Saturday's derby with the Victory.

"We can't say that we're not having luck anymore, it's just not good enough. If you are dominating but not scoring, it's disappointing," he said.

"Conceding a goal inside 15 minutes is not good for morale, and to fall 2-0 behind to 10 men is not good. Looking to the Derby, we have had three games in six days, so it's going to be a hard and difficult game for sure."

After a slow start, the Heart gained plenty of momentum when they defeated the Victory in the first Melbourne derby on October 8 which was the first match of a six-game undefeated run. Since then, however, it has been all one-way traffic with five losses from their last six which has seen them crash out of the top six.