Luchi Gonzalez praises 'desire' after FC Dallas extend unbeaten run to 4 games

The FC Dallas' revival continued on Saturday night with a 2-0 Texas derby win over Austin FC.

Luchi Gonzalez's men looked in big trouble just a few weeks ago, floating near the bottom of the Western Conference with seven defeats from their opening 14 matches.

But an unbeaten run now extended to four games - also featuring victories over LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, and a 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders - has seen them climb into ninth, just two points below the play-off line.

And Gonzalez has heaped praise on his squad for having the 'internal desire' to work through that tough period and drag themselves back up the table.

"Credit to the boys to have an internal desire to wake up tomorrow and show motivation to improve, to take feedback and use it," Gonzalez told reporters (via MLSsoccer.com).

"And they themselves to not get caught up in maybe some of the opinions of how we're doing or what we're doing, but just focus on trying to improve, work, not just work harder but work smarter, do things simple and find solutions."

Gonzalez also believes Dallas' ability to play without fear has been instrumental in their turnaround.

"Whether we score first or not, whether we make mistakes or not, don't play with fear, go, and go for it," he added. "Push the game. Think about the process over 90 minutes, go about the process, respond to the next moment."

After failing to find the net all season, Jesus Ferreira now has two goals in his last three outings, including the second here to put Austin to bed in the 63rd minute after Ryan Hollingshead had given the hosts the lead.

The United States international says Dallas' turnaround has been the result of hard work reviewing negative results, learning from mistakes and sticking close to their principles.

"We had a rough start of the season, everyone knows that," said Ferreira. "We look at the negative and positives of each game, we look over the video, and we try to fix everything that we can.

"And in the past couple games, we were fixing it, we were showing that we can play, that we're a team that you know likes to press, likes to keep the ball, away or home."

Dallas face another tough test at home to Western Conference leaders Sporting KC next weekend before hosting the Sounders on 19 August.