Stand-in Canberra United captain Ash Sykes has warned her teammates against expecting an avalanche of goals when they play the W-League's worst defensive side on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The rampaging Canberra side has hammered home nine goals in the past two weeks to cement their place as the competition's most dangerous attacking team.
However, they need to beat the Western Sydney Wanderers at Campbelltown on Sunday to stay in contention for minor premier honours with just two games left in the regular season.
Sykes is the competition's leading scorer this season with 10 of her own while Canberra's ruthless attacking unit has dismantled opponents and scored 28 goals in 10 games so far.
Sykes says the best part is they've slotted their 28 goals without relying on the most prolific scorer in W-League history, Michelle Heyman, who is racing the clock to recover from injury in time for the finals.
"But we've got to bring ourselves back down to earth a bit, and that's what we've done this week at training and at meetings," Sykes said.
"We have to find some consistency now in good performances heading into the finals. You can't drop your game in the league this year.
"We have to be concentrating to make sure we get to where we want to be."
Canberra United will wait until Sunday before deciding whether regular skipper Ellie Brush will make her comeback from a knee injury against the Wanderers.
Brush flew to Sydney on Saturday night after playing her first Australian football game in an AFL Women's pre-season clash between the GWS Giants and Brisbane Lions.
Brush damaged her medial ligament more than a month ago and is keen to earn her spot for a W-League recall while also juggling her AFL Women's commitments.
But Canberra has been firing in her absence and cruised to a 7-2 rout against Perth last weekend.
The Wanderers present an unpredictable challenge for title-contenders Canberra after losing 10-2 against the previously win-less Adelaide last weekend.
But Sykes says Canberra's up-and-down experience in recent weeks will help safeguard them against expecting a win against the Wanderers.
Despite riding high this season, Canberra has won just one of its past three matches and the players are still stinging from a 6-1 defeat against Sydney FC at the start of January.
"We know what the feeling is like after you have a big loss, you have a mentality that you're not going to let it happen again," Sykes said.
"We also know that what happened to Western Sydney last week doesn't count for anything. They're going to be dangerous, especially at home.
"We've seen the best and worst of us this year so we'll be aiming to keep things on track."
W-LEAGUE ROUND 13
Sunday: Canberra United v Western Sydney Wanderers at Campbelltown Stadium, 2.30pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports and ABC.
