Perth Glory will be spared from taking on Chloe Logarzo when they tackle ladder-leaders Western United at Morshead Park Stadium.
Midfielder Logarzo was a surprise omission when the Matildas squad for the upcoming Cup of Nations was announced on Thursday.
The 28-year-old made her return from an ACL injury in October, and has made a strong impact off the bench for Western United this season.
But a recent foot injury cruelled Logarzo's hopes of earning selection to the Cup of Nations squad, and on Saturday she will also miss a second straight A-League Women match.
Even without lining up against the Matildas star, Glory will face plenty of other headaches - most notably from golden-boot leader Hannah Keane.
The 29-year-old American has scored in four consecutive matches to take her tally for the season to nine goals from 10 games.
Keane found the net in United's come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Glory in Perth earlier this season.
"She's done very well," Glory coach Alex Epakis said of Keane.
"We've got to make sure we manage her accordingly. Her key strengths are her physical ability to protect the ball, and also her ability to get in beyond lines.
"Kim Carroll and Liz Anton did a good job in managing her for a long period of the game when we played them here, so we're going to use that as confidence."
Only one team has been able to beat Western United this season, with Western Sydney posting a shock 2-1 win three weeks ago.
United bounced back with a 2-0 win over Brisbane and a 5-0 demolition of Canberra.
Epakis feels his team can match it with the title favourites, and he was buoyed by the performance in Perth earlier this season.
"We went up twice against them and to walk away with nothing in a home fixture is still something that's a sour point for me," he said.
"We didn't get the result that we wanted, but the performance we put out that day was good enough to compete with the team at the top."
While they need to be wary of Keane, Glory are set to unleash their own Hannah in the shape of New Zealand international Hannah Blake.
The 22-year-old has been signed as an injury replacement for Rylee Baisden, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last month.
"She's not a like-for-like for Rylee," Epakis said.
"Rylee was very direct and a goalscoring threat. Hannah brings other attributes.
"She's got a nice disguise in her one v one ability, she's got a very nice finishing quality."
Ninth-placed Glory have collected just nine points from nine games this season, and Epakis is urging his players to go "all in" for the remainder of the campaign in a bid to scrape into the top four.
