Wednesday night's 4-1 demolition of Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium, featuring a brace from Kerem Bulut, will be remembered as the best performance of a dismal campaign and the Wanderers may now escape the ignominy of falling from grand finalists to wooden spooners.

Popovic's side are ahead of the Newcastle Jets - who defeated them 2-1 in Parramatta last week - on goal difference and with three of their last four matches at home, following Saturday's trip to face Perth Glory at NIB Stadium, there's hope a sour season can end on a sweet note.

Unlikely to play any part against the Glory is left-back Antony Golec, who appeared to suffer a groin injury, extending the Wanderers' already-lengthy injury list. Golec had to be replaced in the first half by Sam Galloway.

"We want this to continue to build for the rest of the season. Now we've got a tough trip to Perth and we've picked up another injury [Antony Golec]. It will be a test again but hopefully we can build on this," Popovic said. "I think we've been very good in patches this season. I keep saying it - we're playing good football but we kept getting punished for our mistakes."

While pundits have been quick to highlight the Wanderers' lack of goals for their success this campaign - scoring just 19 goals in 21 games leading into Wednesday's match - Popovic says his forwards aren't the problem.

"I think in terms of getting the goals, yes [it's been difficult], but in terms of chances we create, week in week out, I disagree with that," he said. "I just think against Brisbane, we took advantage of those opportunities. If you want to win games, that's what you've got to do.

"The difference [against Brisbane] as opposed to Newcastle, we had three one-on-ones in the first 20 minutes and then we were 2-0 down against Newcastle."

Popovic said the clash marked a mental test for his players, who have seen matches turn against them all too frequently in the past six months.

"That can always hurt you, psychologically, when you're down the bottom and things aren't going for you but you've got to take some responsibility. We're down there for a reason that we have to take care of," he said. "[After] they equalised, it was a real test of character to see whether we could respond or whether we would feel sorry for ourselves or go on with it.

"They responded very quickly, they wanted the ball and we scored some very good goals. The win was thoroughly deserved."

Bulut's double came just a day after he was cleared by NSW Police of verbal intimidation, a charge relating to an incident that occurred the night before the Wanderers' win against Melbourne City earlier this month.

"We knew what the outcome would be and now that the outcome's come out publicly, we just moved on," Popovic said. "Obviously, on that day we stood him down and rightly so, as a club. But that's all cleared now. You can see the boy's playing with a smile on his face and he's enjoying his football.

"His fitness is nowhere near where it should be. He had a seven-month layoff, so at times he's running on empty. But he's got great enthusiasm. He shows that, he's always on the spot to finish and he's always dangerous. The boys provided him with two great balls and he did the rest."

While the Wanderers head to Western Australia as rank outsiders to gain anything more than a point against the Glory, the home side have been a shadow of their former selves after the Asian Cup break.

Remarkably, they remain winless at NIB Stadium in this calender year and have conceded at least two goals in each of their home matches since the new year.

However, they still remain within striking distance, sitting level on points with second placed Melbourne Victory, four points behind table-topping Wellington Phoenix.