Canberra Capitals coach Carrie Graf expects Alex Bunton and Carley Mijovic to want to "prove a point" and remains confident of having superstar centre Lauren Jackson return before Christmas.
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The Capitals will pit their powerful combination of Abby Bishop and Stephanie Talbot against Bunton and Mijovic when they host the Adelaide Lightning at Albury on Saturday night.
Both teams sit outside the top four, with the Capitals in fifth place on the WNBL ladder with a 3-5 record and the Lightning propping up the table with a 2-6 mark.
Jackson trained for 40 minutes on Thursday as the four-time Olympian continues her comeback from knee and hip surgeries.
The Capitals were keen to retain 1.96-metre centre Bunton, but the 21-year-old Canberra junior signed with Adelaide in search for more minutes.
Mijovic, who can play power forward or centre, also left the Capitals in favour of the Lightning.
Graf expects both players to have this game circled in the calendar against their former team.
"Any time you play your fresh-old team, you're always out to prove a point, even if you've parted on good terms, which we did with Mijovic and Bunton," Graf said.
"We went hard after Bunton and had a great offer for her, she chose Adelaide and we don't hold that against her at all - athletes make those choices all through their career.
"We've got what we've got and when we've got them all on the floor, we're pretty damn happy."
The Capitals are desperate to bounce back after a 20-point loss to the Dandenong Rangers on the road last weekend.
That followed a two-point defeat in Perth to the West Coast Waves to leave the Capitals in a precarious position approaching the halfway mark of the competition.
"We've had two losses in a row and we need to arrest that," Graf said.
"We've got an opportunity in the next two weeks with single games at home to put ourselves right back in the box seat to where we need to be.
"If we can be 5-5 after the next two games, I think we're in a pretty good position considering the start of our season and the injuries we've had to deal with."
The Capitals have the advantage of going into this weekend's game fresh, while Adelaide will be coming off a game Friday night in Sydney against the Sydney Uni Flames.
"We really have to try and maximise that advantage and put the foot to the floor and run and play pressure defence," Graf said.