Tuggeranong will play in their first finals match since 2003 when they to face the Cooma Tigers in a knockout showdown at Deakin Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Stevens is in his first year as the Tuggeranong mentor and the squad set a finals goal on their first day of pre-season training 10 months ago. But the coach says it's time to reassess and aim higher as the wildcard in the play-offs.

"It's a proud club that has always been hard working, but maybe lacked that bit of guile to get to the next step [before this year]," Stevens said.

"It was about creating the right framework from day one of playing in the finals. So we looked at the process of what we had to do to get there.

"[The results] in the season have given us belief and we've got to kick-on and keep going. I could be wrong ... but the monkey on the back was about making finals. That's where the pressure was coming from.

"Now we should be getting excited, we can't wait to be there. Maybe the other clubs with their history and heritage, they're expected to win. But we're here, and we're ready to give it a crack. If we get some momentum, we could be a real dark horse."

The Tigers are also aiming to get back to the top of the Capital Football rankings after winning the league championship in 2014 and the grand final in 2012.

But Tuggeranong is the odd team out in the four-club play-offs. Canberra Olympic have won two of the past three grand finals and were back to back league champions in 2016-17, while Canberra FC won the league championship this year and is aiming for its first grand final triumph since 2011.

Stevens, a former Woden coach, has transformed Tuggeranong this year and has helped build the club into a contender, instilling a belief the club can beat anyone.

Captain Sean Kiddey and his deputy Cam Doherty are Tuggeranong juniors making their finals debut.

"These guys bleed green. They're Tuggeranong through and through ... they are busting at the bits to be a part of the group and for the club to be in this position," Stevens said.

But Tuggeranong have recruited some players this year with finals experiences at other clubs, including Irishman Shane Murray.

"There are some people who have been at the club who haven't been successful so it's good to finally get them into [the finals], and hopefully this is just the start of our run," Murray said.

Tuggeranong hit a speed bump on their way to the finals when they lost against Canberra FC 3-0, but results in another game secured their place in the finals.

The Tigers are at the other end of the spectrum. They were unbeaten in seven games before stumbling in a rescheduled clash against Olympic last week.

Olympic fell short of their league champions goal after losing to Canberra FC in their last game of the year, but will get a shot at redemption in the grand final qualifier.

Canberra FC put away their strike weapons last week knowing they would secure top spot with a win or a draw.

"We played pragmatically in that game. But at the end of the day we know we can play some beautiful football and get a result," said Canberra FC goal-keeper Sam Brown.

"We had to play a little bit ugly, to be honest. But we know if we want to string passes together, we can. We frustrated [Canberra Olympic last week], but we can score goals."

Olympic will be playing its third game in 11 days after having to reschedule two matches last week, but Nathan Megic is confident they can get one back against Canberra FC.

"It was hard to break it down a bit last week, but we will break them down and continue to play how we do," Megic said. "I don't think we need to change anything, it's just about putting away our chances."

CANBERRA PREMIER LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS

Saturday: Tigers FC v Tuggeranong United at 3pm; Canberra FC v Canberra Olympic at 7pm. Both games at Deakin Stadium.