Macarthur FC could catch A-League Men pacesetters Melbourne City by surprise with a positive approach as they chase a finals berth under new coach Mile Sterjovski.
City boss Rado Vidosic and midfielder Richard van der Venne this week bemoaned the defensive tactics brought by most visitors to AAMI Park.
In doing so, they effectively dared the Bulls to make a game of Saturday's contest at a venue where the reigning premiers are yet to taste defeat this season.
Former Socceroos attacker Sterjovski, who presided over a 2-2 draw with Western United last week in his first game in charge, is ready to fight fire with fire against the league leaders.
"We want to approach every game like we want to win," Sterjovski said.
"Against Western United they (the players) showed great fighting spirit and to me it proved that there's a lot of fight in this team.
"If we can get a few other things right, we have a great chance of playing finals football."
Vidosic found it hard to get a read on Macarthur in their first game under Sterjovski, in which the Bulls played most of the second half a man down after Kearyn Baccus was sent off.
"Will they base their game on stopping us or trying to give us a good contest? We'll see," Vidosic said.
"A lot of teams decide when they come here to defend and just try to play in counterattack, so if that's the case then we just need to be prepared for that.
"If they come to play, then obviously it will be a different challenge for us with probably a bit more space behind them and we can exploit those situations."
City are five points clear on top of the ladder with a game in hand, but have been held to three successive draws despite controlling most of the play in those outings.
They conceded three goals for the first time this season in last week's draw with Adelaide United and Vidosic is eager to tighten up at the back.
"It was a little bit negative to concede three goals but we scored three and we came back after being 3-1 down, which was another positive," Vidosic said.
"Now we just need to make sure that we stop conceding goals."
