Wagga faces Gazy Auburn having defeated their rivals in a 6-4 goal-fest in April.

“It was a very high-scoring game,” Wanderers coach Andrew Douglas said.

“Both teams would have tightened up their defence by now.

“Hopefully we can put our chances away.

“The ground we played on last time was a shorter ground, it ed to a lot of counter-attacking.

“Gissing’s a bigger ground, we’ll wait to see what they bring to the table.”

Wagga comes off a rewarding victory, and Auburn comes off a succession of draws and then a loss .

Wanderers’ frustration levels have been building as training has been called off and last week’s game was washed out due to wet conditions at Gissing Oval.

“It’s going to get to the point where we’re going to have to play on these grounds,” Douglas said.

“If the ground goes, it goes.”

The break last week cuts both ways.

“The boys should be fresh, it also may take them a bit of time to get back up to the speed,” he said.

During the warm-up, Douglas will focus on getting the boys in the zone.

“It’s all a part of their preparation, trying to get in the right mentality to play,” he said.

“We seem to play our best football when our talk is up.”

The Wanderers will miss two defenders who have been suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Captain Sam Mangelsdorf and Scottish import Antonio Vastano will watch from the sidelines as Justin Curran and Callum Dunbar fill their shoes in the back line.

Dunbar spent the first four rounds in the back line before he was transferred into a defensive midfield position.

“He’s got strength on ball, he’s very strong in the air, he has good overlapping speed, and good delivery of short and long balls,” Douglas said.

The Wanderers’ goal, to qualify for finals in 2016, is still within reach.

Before the washout, Wagga was sitting four points shy of the top four teams on the State League ladder.

“Our equation’s simple, we just need to perform week in, week out to give us a chance,” Douglas said.

Douglas was not happy with the team’s performance in Round 12, and expects more discipline this week.