Matildas star Cortnee Vine has issued a warning to Sydney FC's A-League Women premiership rivals, saying the reigning title-winners are ready to strike again.
Returning home after two rounds away, the defending premiers and champions are plotting a return to top spot starting with dismantling Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
The Sky Blues have endured a bumpy start to the season on the road and postponed league matches due AFC Women’s Club Championship commitments.
Sitting in fifth, Sydney (three wins, one draw, two losses) have played four of their last five matches since round one away and have struggled to string consecutive wins.
Their most recent outing against current league leaders Perth Glory ended in the season’s first goalless stalemate.
"As much as we look at the weekend and it was positive for us, it's still a draw," Vine told AAP.
“And we don’t want to draw. We don’t want to lose. We want to win.
“We don't go into any game thinking 'oh, we might win, we might not'.
“We go into games thinking we're going to get the three points and we need to because we want to win the premiership and championship again this year."
The Sky Blues are now heading home to Leichhardt Oval and will stay there for a while.
Sydney will play all eight home games at the inner-west venue, bar the round-nine Allianz Stadium doubleheader against Wellington Phoenix, and are hoping to make it their fortress.
Falling short of victory in their earlier meeting against the Roar, Vine is viewing Friday night's affair as the beginning of their road to a fourth-consecutive ALW premiership crown.
“It’s going to be a massive game for us. It wasn't nice losing to them in the second round,” Vine said.
“I'm really looking forward to having a fortress. We're getting into the Sydney way now.
“We all play with our heart on our sleeves and we work for each other ... so I'm really looking forward to this back end of the season, hopefully winning more games.”
Ninth-placed Brisbane (two wins, three draws, three losses) are also looking to turn around their form, having endured mixed fortunes so far.
Not tasting victory since round two against Sydney, the Roar will be looking to snap a six-game winless streak - their longest run without victory in their history in the competition.
Brisbane settled for a 1-1 draw at home against Western Sydney last round after failing to back up a brilliant individual goal from American striker Mia Corbin.
Kicking off round nine on Friday, Western United host Perth Glory before Sydney square off against Brisbane.
The Melbourne derby takes centre stage on Saturday with a blockbuster match between top-four sides City and Victory.
Also on Saturday, Wellington Phoenix host the Newcastle Jets, Canberra United play Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers take on Adelaide United.
