Coach Michael Grass knows taking their chances will be crucial as Mid Coast target important points in a weekend double-header against unbeaten leaders Merewether.
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With three rounds remaining in Herald Women's Premier League, Mid Coast are fifth with 15 points and caught in a three-way battle for the final spot in the top four with Warners Bay (18), fourth, and Adamstown (13), sixth. United (26), Newcastle Olympic (25) and Broadmeadow (25) look to have the top-three positions sewn up.
Merewether travel to Taree on Saturday to play Mid Coast in a rescheduled round-five match before the two sides meet on Sunday in their round-12 fixture at Myamblah Oval.
"If we get opportunities and we don't take them then we're just gifting them the three points," Grass said. "We've got to take everything that comes our way. We're getting slowly back on track to where we were six weeks ago. We're not quite there yet. We've picked up a couple of wins now without actually hitting our straps."
Mid Coast have lost right-back Rosie Newman for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone sustained in their 3-0 win over New Lambton last weekend.
Strike weapon Courtney Anderson returns after missing the match through illness and fullback Tash Ruge is also back from a week out.
"Last week, I pushed Jess James back into the fullback role, so we'll probably just go with that again," Grass said.
"We had a pretty good session on Tuesday night then I gave the girls Wednesday night off. There's a few niggly injuries and sickness and we just needed a few nights off to freshen up for the weekend.
"The way we're approaching it is we're going to throw everything at Saturday and see what happens there. If we get a result that would be great, if we don't then we've just got to take what comes on Sunday.
"Even if we lose both of these games, I think we're still a chance, but obviously if we can get some sort of result this weekend then it makes our chances even better."
United are without midfielder Jamee Ellis for the double-header through unavailability and Sarah Bergin and Isabella Ramzan-Levy are out injured.
Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins described their clash with seventh-placed New Lambton (4) at John Street Oval on Sunday as "dangerous".
The Panthers bounced back from a 7-2 loss at the hands of Olympic in round 10 to beat last-placed Thornton (0) 9-0 last round.
"We have to be fully focused for this game and we can show no complacency," Atkins said. "Finals football is in our hands and we need to make sure we're just focused on our job and playing strongly for that 90 minutes.
"It was a nice, solid team performance last week but we know we've got to lift that intensity and our all-round game again for this weekend."
Adamstown coach Ryan Campbell has been suspended for two matches after he was red-carded at the end of last week's 2-1 loss to Olympic and will not be allowed to attend Rosebud's match against Broadmeadow at Magic Park on Sunday.
Rosebud can still finish fourth but need results to go in their favour.
"The girls were a little bit down after the result right at the end last week," Campbell said. "Their performance probably dictated a better result than they actually got, so I think they're quite confident going into the game that if they can perform then they're going to do a good job."
Newcastle Olympic (25) are at home to Thornton (0) on Sunday.
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