Canberra United hopes to find out next week if Football Federation Australia will overturn a decision to strip them of three points, but the bigger challenge awaits on Saturday afternoon.
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United will host the Melbourne Victory in their final home game on Saturday afternoon and the third-last game of the regular season carries extra importance for finals ambitions.
United is five points adrift of the fourth-placed Victory and time is running out to mount a charge into a play-off spot.
The finals goal was made more difficult when the Australian Professional Leagues hit Canberra with a three-point deduction for making an ineligible substitute in a win against Sydney last month.
Canberra officials submitted their final appeal documents this week and the process can take up to four weeks, but it's understood it will be fast-tracked given the finals implications.
Giving the points back to Canberra would see it close the gap on Melbourne to two points, and then beating the Victory this weekend would see the side jump into fourth spot.
The match will also double as former skipper Ellie Brush's last in front of a home crowd, unless Canberra goes through the rest of the year undefeated and somehow jags a home final.
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"Whichever way it happens, I'm really proud [of the season we've had]. But that would be the ultimate goal to make the finals," Brush said.
"We've certainly had a great push the last five weeks and hopefully we get a few points back [after the deduction] that are rightfully ours to help that cause.
"But this weekend is a huge game against Melbourne Victory who are ahead of us and that's the sole focus."
Coach Njegosh Popovich is considering his selection options after welcoming back Sasha Grove and Chloe Lincoln from Young Matildas duties.
The points deduction aside, Popovich's team is undefeated since January 28 and has scored eight goals in the past three games.
"Melbourne Victory are a good side and it sets up a great, great show for us," Popovich said.
"It's our last home match, but hopefully not our last home match because I believe if we win every game from here to the end of the season, we'll end up with a home final which would be sensational for Canberra.
"We're getting more and more players back from injury and it's a great headache to have as a coach when you're trying to work out who you need to leave out."
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