Canberra United are hoping to shake off the ill-effects of playing in scorching heat and copping 10 goals in two games when they travel to face Newcastle on Sunday.
Battered 5-0 by Western United last Saturday - their second straight five-goal flogging - United hope to bounce back against the second-from-bottom Jets and rescue a faltering A-League Women's campaign.
But coach Njegosh Popovich, who after last week's loss in 35 degree heat suggested his side might not be fully-fit for a fortnight, is unsure what to expect from his troops.
"I don't really have the answers ... people above me and who are higher-ranking than me make those decisions and hopefully we can learn from them," he told reporters.
"My fear is somebody will get hurt, and we've got the football cliches where people say it's the same for both teams ... that's all well and good, but the reality of it is we still have a duty of care to look after our players."
The Jets might be the perfect tonic for United though with Canberra having won 16 of their last 21 meetings with Newcastle, including a 5-1 thrashing on January 14.
Midfielder Grace Maher said the disappointing back-to-back results had left the squad doing some soul-searching.
"We got in together and really found out what it is that makes us tick ... that was a big wake-up call and we're professional footballers, that wasn't good enough," she told reporters.
"We don't want to be in that position ever again ... we'll remember how that feels and take that into this week."
Newcastle technical director Gary van Egmond will take charge of the Jets after coach Ash Wilson stepped down during the week, a mid-season review finding more support would be needed for their coaching staff.
The Jets sit 10th on the ALW table, having won just two of their 10 games this season and copping a league-high 28 goals in that span.
They enter off three straight defeats, losing 1-0 to Western Sydney last time out.
