Melbourne Victory are undermanned and under pressure but won't be compromising their style to snap their rotten run of A-League results.
Perth Glory visit AAMI Park on Sunday with the chance to inflict a second defeat against the champions in two weeks, and Victory's fifth straight in the league.
The fixture quirk comes after a rescheduled match due to their FFA Cup final meeting, won by Victory at the same ground last month.
Hoping a seven-day break does his players a world of good, Victory coach Kevin Muscat says he'll be sticking by the players and the structure that won the title last season.
"No doubt there has to be some change and the change has to be results," he said.
"In terms of what we're trying to do we're gonna persist. It's something that's brought us rewards in the very recent past."
While the results make for grim reading, Muscat said the past month had at least been revealing.
"This is the period where you start finding out about characters," he said.
"It's great when you are walking around town and everyone is patting you on the back and you have collectively got one big smile on your face.
"Now is the time where it's not about dragging your feet ... you have to be upbeat.
"There is only one way to get out of it, you have to maintain what we are doing with belief and work."
Perth regain Marc Warren and Antony Golec for the match.
Joining Carl Valeri on Victory's injury list is Rashid Mahazi, who hasn't recovered from the rigour of four matches in a fortnight.
With Victory short in midfield, a likely solution is Leigh Broxham's restoration into the middle and Thomas Deng partnering Matthieu Delpierre at centre-back.
There will be more pain next month, when Muscat loses five to international duty.
Jason Geria, Scott Galloway, Deng, Giancarlo Gallifuoco and Connor Pain head to Qatar as part of Aurelio Vidmar's Olyroos squad for the Asian Championship.
The matches double as qualifiers for next year's Olympics.
Muscat said the situation was less than ideal for his club but he was willing to cop it for his country.
"It's very important to go to the Olympics, I've done it myself and we've never stood in the way of anyone in the national team," he said.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Victory has broken new ground for the club with a four-game losing streak - Wellington (A), Western Sydney (A), Perth (A), City (A).
* Kenny Lowe's men also have a poor run to end, having lost all five away matches this season.
* Glory haven't won an A-League match in Melbourne since March 2013 when Josh Risdon's injury-time goal won a five-goal thriller over Victory at AAMI Park.
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