Western United remain in the mix for the A-League Women premiership but coach Mark Torcaso is determined to use their clash with Western Sydney to steady the ship ahead of finals.
In their inaugural season, United sit second on 36 points behind Sydney FC (37), who play Newcastle on Saturday, but have lost two of their past three games ahead of facing the Wanderers at City Vista Recreation Reserve.
United play at 3pm (AEDT) before Sydney at 5.05pm and a victory will ensure they leapfrog the Sky Blues and force them to beat the Jets to claim silverware.
"It's more just getting some momentum, obviously a good performance but most importantly just making sure that we've got the right mentality and the right attitude going into a finals series," Torcaso said
"We're just focusing on tomorrow's game, three points from that and then we'll reset on Monday and then we'll adjust for finals.
"For us to be in a finals series is important and we're still playing for a premiers plate ultimately as well on the weekend.
"We do a good job, we get a result, we win, you never know what happens with Sydney and Newcastle and we could end up on top of the ladder."
United received a boost on Friday with Football Australia confirming Brisbane Roar will not appeal against their points deduction for fielding an ineligible player in their match on March 11.
Roar captain Ayesha Norrie had earned a one-match suspension after picking up her fourth yellow card of the season on March 4 against the Wellington Phoenix, but played the full game against United regardless.
Brisbane's 2-0 victory was stripped and replaced with a 3-0 loss, handing Western United three additional points.
United have also relished Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo's return from Kansas City ahead of a potential finals cameo.
"You can feel the difference already, just having a person of her quality and her presence," Torcaso said.
"She's going to be very important for us in the finals series, hopefully we can get her out on the pitch over the next few weeks and make sure she's ready to go.
"But she's looking forward to it, we're looking forward to it and believe that she could have that X-factor that can help us win the games."
