Time and space occupy the thoughts of Western United coach John Aloisi on two fronts.
Firstly, his reigning A-League Men champions have limited time to bridge the space on the table and make the finals.
With four games of the regular season remaining, United sit in ninth spot ahead of Friday's home match in Ballarat against third-placed Central Coast.
United (26 points) are only two shy of Sydney FC in sixth - but are also just three points clear of last-placed Brisbane.
Secondly, Aloisi is demanding his players shut down any time and space for the Mariners' renowned strike-force.
"We have to try and close them down as quick as possible in certain areas," Aloisi said on Thursday.
"That is really important because players like (Jason) Cummings, (Marco) Tulio, (Samuel) Silvera, they're very good in areas that they can hurt you - especially if you give them too much space and time.
"We have to make sure that our defensive structures are good and we deny them space in those areas around the box.
"And then when we get the ball, we try and hurt them because we can see they might allow us some space."
Aloisi's team is wedged in the ladder logjam after collecting just one point from their initial five outings amid a spate of injuries and suspensions.
"The important thing is that we're there pushing and we're challenging, because we had a really poor start ... you're playing catch-up," he said.
"We have been still able to put ourselves in this position so that is a credit to not only the team but the whole club because we didn't panic.
"We kept on working towards what our goal is and that is to be here at the end of the season, to be still pushing for a top-six place.
"There's four games left, so we know there's still plenty of points.
"And it's going to be very tight not only with who is above us ... but the teams below as well."
Beyond the Mariners, United meet second-placed Adelaide, league leaders Melbourne City and Perth Glory, currently seventh, in a testing run to the finals.
"I believe we have got a team good enough to beat any side in this league, it doesn't matter where they are on the table," Aloisi said.
"We know that every game will be hard ... but we believe that we can also match them."
