They've won just one match against top-eight teams, but Penrith coach Anthony Griffin is backing his side to turn it on in the charge towards the NRL finals.
Two points out of the eight, the Panthers have won seven of their past nine games to sit ninth ahead of Thursday night's clash with lowly ranked Canterbury.
They face the struggling Wests Tigers in a fortnight, before finals hopefuls North Queensland, St George Illawarra and Manly in three of their last four games.
It shapes as a difficult run home for the in-form Panthers, given their 1-7 record against top-eight teams.
"You've only got to beat who you play every week," Griffin said.
"Looking and dissecting who has won and who hasn't and what the draw is ... It just ends up confusing you a bit.
"I've got total confidence in the guys we've got that if we can get ourselves in the right form and fitness, we can compete against anyone."
Regardless, it makes Thursday's match vital - a loss could put them four points back, assuming the Dragons beat Newcastle.
Penrith are without injured captain Matt Moylan in the halves, who is only expected to miss one week with ongoing hamstring tightness.
Griffin is considering bringing Bryce Cartwright back after last week's reserve-grade return from a two-month knee injury.
He has trained with the team, but won't fill Moylan's shoes at No.6, despite playing there in four of his six games this year.
"We'll stick with him in the forwards at the moment," Griffin said.
"I just want him to get his confidence back more than anything.
"He had a really tough start to the year for a number of reasons that have been well documented. He didn't play an awful amount of football - probably only one, one-and-a-half fully fit."
The five-eighth responsibility will fall to Tyrone May, after the 21-year-old's debut a fortnight ago against the Warriors.
But the five-day turnaround means he is yet to have a proper field session this week with the team, while Griffin also expects him to cop the force of a Bulldogs' pack determined to prove a point after a week in the headlines.
"He played really well in the NSW Cup last week and that's what you want to see ... He looked like a first grader," Griffin said.
STATS THAT MATTER:
* Penrith have won seven of their past nine games
* Since round 10, Penrith have the equal-best attack at 25.3 points per game
* Canterbury are yet to score more than 10 points in a first half this season
Source: Fox Sports Stats
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