In Melbourne’s west, a finals berth that had at one stage looked certain now appears to be a long shot; a visit by Central Coast Mariners to Kardinia Park on Sunday afternoon followed by a murderer’s run conclusion to the season.  

Five points adrift of the top six, Head Coach Mark Rudan’s side face back-to-back away games against Adelaide United and Perth Glory in coming weeks, must travel to play Sydney FC in round 26 and then follow that with derbies against Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory in rounds 27 and 28.

Compounding the difficulty, their two remaining home games, against Western Sydney Wanderers and City, are scheduled to be played at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium, a venue that presents logistical challenges that Rudan has admitted makes the endeavour feel like an away game.

“I never look too far ahead,” Rudan said when pressed about the schedule. “I didn’t even know [that’s what was on it].

“I’ve always been a coach that works on the day-to-day and being in the present, working on what’s in front of us and not worrying about the distant future or what’s behind us.”

Of course, for all the challenges confronted by the A-League newcomers, they’re still in a better position than resident Victorian heavyweights Victory.

Head Coach Carlos Salvachúa’s side sits in the ninth position on the A-League table heading into the weekend’s play, with the four-point gap between themselves and eighth the same as the distance between themselves and the bottom of the table.

Despite recording some solid wins in the Asian Champions League, including Victory’s first-ever away win in the competition against J1 League side Kashima Antlers, Salvachúa has yet to win an A-League game since he took up position at the head of the dugout; Victory’s last three-points coming against Newcastle Jets back in round 13 when Marco Kurz was in charge.

And with the gap between the four-time A-League champions and a finals place rapidly approaching chasm levels, Saturday evening’s Original Rivalry meeting with Adelaide United looms large.

"We’re still in it," attacker Andrew Nabbout said on Wednesday.

"We’re nine points away from Brisbane now, the boys are just determined to get as many points now in the next five or six games, that’s about all it is.

"It’s just about taking maximum points, taking it game by game and hopefully we can get there in the end.

"As long as it’s mathematically possible to make the finals we’re never going to give up.”

A loss to the Reds would seemingly not only serve to scupper the remote finals hopes of Victory – albeit not in the mathematically derived manner referred to by Nabbout –  but also drive a dagger through any chance of Salvachúa retaining his place as the club’s coach heading into 2020/21.

Replacing the poor cultural fit of Kurz, the Spaniard – who was a holdover from Kevin Muscat’s tenure – had entered the job with a fair amount of goodwill, but a club of Victory’s mindset is not inclined to look kindly on finals absences.

“Our focus is not now on the finals - it's the next game in 24 hours against Adelaide and we put the focus in this 90 minutes,” he said on Friday.