The Maitland Magpies need to guard against a big-game let down when they travel to take on Valentine on Sunday.
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Fresh from their 2-1 FFA Cup round seven win against Hamilton, Maitland faces a Valentine team smarting from their midweek Cup tie loss to Edgeworth.
The two teams are yet to face one another this season after their round two fixture was washed out and is yet to be replayed.
Maitland are fourth on the ladder, five points behind Weston but with two games in hand.
The Phoenix have been struggling so far and sit closer to the wrong end of the table.
Defensively, the Magpies currently have the best goals conceded per game average in the competition, while Valentine have the second worst.
However, attack-wise they have similar records - Maitland have scored 15, while the Phoenix have scored 14.
Maitland will be missing Matt Thompson and Ryan Broadley due to injury and will be without Sean Pratt who is travelling overseas.
While the Phoenix will be missing Ben Hay and Josh Carroll who have both left for a European holiday but do welcome back Jacob Bailey from suspension and potentially Brenton Olzomer from injury.
While Valentine's finals hopes are basically done and dusted for 2019, Maitland's are well and truly alive, and it looks as though the side may be fighting for the premiership come August.
If the Magpies want that to be the case these are the matches they must win, unlike like last season when they dropped valuable points to lower sides.
