The Wanderers will be looking to cause an upset when they take on NPL One club Monaro in the fifth round of the FFA Cup at Riverside Stadium at 7pm.

It has been tough going for the Wanderers since their fourth round FFA Cup win over Brindabella, having lost all three of their opening NPL Two season matches.

As if the task of taking on an NPL One club in Canberra midweek wasn't already tough enough, the Wanderers will be without some key personnel for the fixture.

Jake Ploenges will miss the clash with a calf strain suffered in last Saturday's loss to Yoogali, while a number of other players are likely to be rested as well.

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"We're certainly not going to be taking our full squad across," Wanderers coach Dave Leonard said.

"There's a couple of injuries and I'm probably more tempted just to rest those guys. People like Jakey (Ploenges), Jacob Ochieng, James Klein.

"There's a few guys that I might rest and bring some other guys up and let them have a run for the experience."

Monaro Panthers defeated NPL Two club O'Connor Knights 3-1 in the last round. They, like the Wanderers, are also winless in the regular season but have managed to push a number of the top NPL One clubs.

"They're NPL One of course but they're one of the sides that struggle in NPL One," Leonard explained.

"If we had our full squad, you've always got to go in believing you're half a chance and I think we probably would have given them a bit of a shake but it'll be tough with numbers at the moment and have to back up after a couple of days.

"They're the challenges you take, the boys will enjoy it for the experience, there's no doubt about that."

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