With four rounds to go before finals, the Diesels are now clinging to third spot, only one point ahead of Young, following the 16-8 loss to the Bulls .

With big match-ups against Temora, Kangaroos, Albury and the Cherrypickers to come, captain-coach Matt Hands is looking for his team to lift when they take on the Dragons at Nixon Park on Sunday.

“We now know this week is a bit of a must win for us,” Hands said.

“It not only puts third spot in jeopardy but makes the whole finals a bit shaky.

“We have a tough run home with Temora, Kangaroos, who aren’t travelling the greatest but we know will be a tough test, before finishing with Albury and Young.”

Hands also believes the clash with Temora is important if the team is going to pick up any momentum heading into the finals.

“We need to be winning this one otherwise we will be limping into the finals,” he said.

“That is not how you want to be coming into them so we need to get our season back on track this weekend.

“Hopefully we can do that.”

Hands is looking for the team to execute better after letting a number of chances slip against Southcity.

The Bulls were without four of their star players, Nathan Rose, Kyle McCarthy, Jack Lyons and Hayden Jeans through Country representative duties, but was still strong enough to battle out the win.

“It was disappointing losing on the weekend, especially with them having a few out,” Hands said.

“We knew it was a good opportunity to get them but to their credit the boys who stepped up for the ones who were missing played extremely well.”

Between first and reserve grade, the Diesels had a team of players unavailable for the clash with the Bulls and Hands doesn’t believe there will too many changes to take on Temora.

He is looking for the team to make the most of their opportunities when they travel to take on a Dragons outfit desperate to keep their finals hopes alive.

Temora sit just outside the top five but did get the better of Junee when the two teams met at Laurie Daley Oval earlier in the year.