Coach Dwight Graham believes valuing possession will be crucial as Inner Glow chase an upset win over Newcastle championship netball heavyweights West Leagues Balance on Saturday to keep alive their finals hopes.
West beat Inner Glow 48-29 in round six and handed competition leaders Souths their first loss of the season last weekend.
"They're a very good team and without doubt the favourites, particularly after their performance last weekend," Graham said. "They've got strengths right through the court.
"We've talked about just valuing and treasuring our ball a lot more because we did turn over a lot of ball in the last game against them in the midcourt and our attack end, so being a little more positive with what we do and a little less reckless."
West are third with 22 points heading into round 13 while Inner Glow have 21 points to be on level footing with fourth-placed Nova Thunder but fifth on goal percentages. After West, they face Souths (27).
"We've mathematically figured out that we need to beat both West and Souths because of the goal difference percentage, so we're certainly going in to give it our absolute best," Graham said.
Souths coach Tracey van Dal was expecting a strong response from her charges after losing 46-37 to West last round.
The Lions remained on top of the table but their lead over second-placed University of Newcastle (25) was reduced to two points.
"The Lions girls are very competitive and they certainly weren't happy with having a first loss of the season, so they've hit the training court hard this week," van Dal said.
Souths play BNC Whanau (9). University take on Junction Stella (13) and Nova Thunder meet Kotara South (17). All games are at 2.30pm.
