Tim Cahill was defiant after Australia’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Greece in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The former Everton star had a quiet game by his lofty standards for the national team, as did most of his team-mates, as they went down against the same team they beat 1-0 in Sydney on Saturday.

Petros Mantalos put the visitors 1-0 up after eight minutes before a wonder goal from Giannis Maniatis made it 2-0 after the midfielder scored from his own half.

Australia eventually struck back through Trent Sainsbury in the second half, but could not find the equaliser.

Cahill was critical of the manner in which Greece played the game and said he remained convinced that Australia were making the right steps to improvement ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"I think we had a good reaction [after going 2-0 down] and we were unlucky not to get it back to 2-2," Cahill said.

"We'll look at it and address it at the next camp but overall it’s been a good two games. A lot of players are on holiday now so they can go and relax.

"It's hard when every tackle someone is rolling over for a long time, but they're a good team and they’re ranked where they are because they're a good team.

"I have no doubt in my mind that we will be stronger for this and, if anything, we really should have got a draw out of it.

"I'm not even going to bat an eyelid over tonight's game."