Teenager Lesiotis, who has started at right back in Victory's last three games and played the full 90 minutes in all of them, readily admits that he is learning how to play the position.

Loading

He spent most of his early career as a defensive midfielder, first at City in the under-20 and junior ranks, and then Victory, who he joined last season in a bid to get more game time than he was getting with their rivals.

Since his switch, Toivonen has been a mentor to Lesiotis at Victory, adding to the support City's former under-20s coach Kisnorbo gave him at Bundoora.

"At the start I was a bit shaky, I wasn't sure, I hadn't played right back," Lesiotis said.

"But things are turning out quite well. We are on a little bit of a run, it's good to see the team doing well and me doing well.

"Carl Valeri (Victory's now retired captain) was definitely my biggest mentor when I came here first, he helped me a lot. Now Ola helps every day. He is always giving me new ideas.

I do believe the coach (Marco Kurz) believes in me if he is keeping me in the starting line-up.

Anthony Lesiotis

"It's not so much about how to play right back, it's about staying strong, keeping your mentality. It's also helping with him giving me options to pass, he's always saying 'look for me, look for Andy (Nabbout)'. Everyone is always trying to help me learn."

Lesiotis credits Kisnorbo with giving him the mentality to be a professional footballer.

Loading

"I was at City for two years and played under Patrick Kisnorbo in the under-20s," he said.

"I then went straight up from the 20s to the first team and got a lot of experience over there.

"Paddy was a big mentor, definitely. Without him I probably wouldn't be the player that I am. I am always tough, but he brought that side out of me. He has always believed in me, gave me a lot of opportunities, helped me out.

"Even when he was the first-team assistant he was always trying to help me get better, helped me with extras after training."

If Lesiotis stays at full back it will continue to be a steep learning curve – something he is happy to persevere with.

"I do believe the coach (Marco Kurz) believes in me if he is keeping me in the starting line-up," he said.

"He has been helping me a lot over the past few weeks trying to give me a lot of confidence.

"Three weeks ago was the first ever time I have played right back. It just came out of nowhere."