Former Socceroo striker Josh Kennedy, who scored the opening goal to set John van 't Schip's side on the way to its 2-0 elimination final triumph in New Zealand, said the players felt guilty about the way they performed in their two previous games, a 3-1 away loss to Perth Glory and a 4-1 defeat in Adelaide.

"The weeks previous to the Wellington game were very poor. All the boys knew that," Kennedy said before a Wednesday training session.

"In the week prior to that game in New Zealand there was probably a change in our attitude. I think it came down to what we knew would be needed to win."

And the catalyst for this realisation?

"Probably our embarrassing form in the weeks before. It was a great achievement to get to the finals on our own merit, but we let ourselves down in those couple of weeks prior in Perth and Adelaide and we knew that's not us. Those couple of games were a slap in the face and a bit of a wake-up call."

Fans will doubtless be asking why, if the City players can get themselves up for an elimination final, they can't do so week in and week out.

Kennedy, who joined the club mid-season and first played for them in February after several years in Japan, was at a loss to offer an explanation as to how they can find form one day and lose it another.

"I wish it was easy to turn it on and off. One of our biggest problems this year has been consistency. It's got to improve if we want to be top of the A-League."

The tall striker has little experience with finals soccer, having never played in the A-League before joining City. He played in knockout games as a youngster when part of the Carlton youth team set-up in the NSL, but he left to go to Germany and never played a finals game for the seniors.

"The only semi-final I have played is in the Asian Champions League one year with Nagoya (2009). We got smacked by a Saudi Arabian team. But I haven't played any here in Australia." (Nagoya lost 8-3 on aggregate that year to Al Ittihad, who went on to lose the final to Korean side Pohang Steelers.)

Kennedy says the fact that Victory finished 18 points clear of City on the league table at season's end makes no difference at all to the outcome of Friday's match.

"Their results for the year show they are a class team and they deserved to finish on top of the table. As far as depth goes they are probably the best team and best squad in the league and they have been consistent.

"There is a reason why they are No.1 and it's a great reason why we need to knock them off. In any sport it's always a great opportunity to play the No.1 in the league. Two Melbourne teams, it's probably a shame it's not a grand final.

"It's going to come down to our mentality on the night ... we need to show more courage and play as a team. If we dig deep as a unit and operate together that's where we will get them."