Travis Dodd believes a fired up Sydney FC side desperate to put a period of turmoil behind them has the potential to cause Perth Glory problem's in Saturday's Hyundai A-League clash.
Seventh-placed Sydney's task of sneaking into the finals will be made much harder if they lose to the in-form Glory at home, with the club needing to quickly reverse a worrying slump to make the top six.
The Sky Blues have won just one of their past nine matches, while they also copped scathing criticism from CEO Dirk Melton after their 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle on Sunday.
Dodd said those factors, as well as a desire to perform well for outgoing coach Vitezslav Lavicka, would make it harder for Perth to extend their record eight-game unbeaten run on Saturday.
"I think they are [better than their ladder position suggests]," the winger said.
"They're under a bit of pressure at the moment with the announcement with the coaching for next year and the result last weekend so I expect them to come out and be solid."
"They certainly won't want to put in a performance two weeks in a row like that."
"They've been questioned by the CEO about their commitment and their passion so we can certainly expect them to be a different proposition this week."
Marquee man Brett Emerton is also expected to return from a hamstring injury for the Glory clash, but Dodd said they were more concerned with their own preparations than Sydney's line-up.
The Glory enter the match in tremendous form, having won five of their past six - including a 4-0 thrashing of Gold Coast United on Monday.
But Dodd said the club was trying to ensure they didn't get carried away with their impressive run, which has seen them climb to fourth spot while sitting just two points behind the second placed Wellington Phoenix.
"We're certainly in a purple patch, so to speak. It's a great feeling at the club amongst the team and the coaching staff," he said.
"With seven games to go there's still a lot of football to be played but without putting too much expectation on us, we can expect to do well over the next few games and there's no reason that we can't get a top four."