Unbeaten Melbourne Victory are craving a scalping of strugglers Newcastle as they charge into the business end of the A-League Men season.
Victory - who have six wins and eight draws from 14 games so far - will go toe-to-toe with the Jets for their second meeting of the season at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night, having come out on top in a thrilling 5-3 clash at AAMI Park in October.
The 10th-placed Jets have yet to find their feet under first-year coach Rob Stanton while Tony Popovic's men are the ALM's only unbeaten side as the season moves into its second half.
But wins have proved elusive for the Victory since their round-11 triumph over Perth Glory.
"We're happy at the halfway mark with our unbeaten run and the football we're playing," Popovic said.
"Tomorrow presents another opportunity to keep that going.
"We're getting better at dealing with (the opposition). We're limiting the opponent from getting out of their half easily.
"The next step, which is the most difficult part, is to convert the opportunities and make a little bit more out of our dominance."
Lacking firepower since Bruno Fornaroli's call-up by the Socceroos for the Asian Cup, Melbourne have battled out three consecutive 1-1 draws.
The Jets will be heartened by Fornaroli's absence: the free-scoring forward was the architect of Victory's October win, finding the net on four first-half occasions.
Popovic warned against underestimating the struggling Jets but remained confident his charges have the tools to keep their unbeaten run going.
"Newcastle is always, history shows, a very difficult game. They've been strong at home," Popovic said.
"They're a good team in transition. They break very quickly, they have some real speed and quality in attack.
"But we're good enough ... we've shown that we're very resilient. We're a tough team away from home.
"The points won't be given to us, we will have to earn them (against) an opponent that's very determined and hungry to keep climbing up the table.
"If we can match the intensity and the desire that they have, we have the quality to win the match."
