Ground: Brim Recreation Reserve, Saturday, 2.20pm.
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Last time they met: Round 8, 2014. Warrack Eagles 17.20 (122) d Horsham 10.15 (75).
WARRACK Eagles coach Tim Inkster has called for his players to lift ahead of Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with Horsham Demons.
A lacklustre Eagles outfit was downed by lower-ranked Minyip-Murtoa by five points at the weekend.
“We were pretty ordinary with our effort and ball use,” Inkster said.
“Horsham is in red-hot form – its key players are performing well. It’s going to be a tough one.”
Inkster said the team could not afford to rely on the likes of defender Ben Harrison and midfielder Ben Spicer to shoulder the workload each week.
He said forwards Jae McGrath and Peter Weir needed to fire.
“They’ve been a bit down, so they need to lift their game a bit,” he said.
“If they don’t start performing we’ll probably have to chuck them down back again.
“Brad Krahe is another bloke I hope finds some form pretty quickly.”
The Eagles will be without Jesse Murphy, hamstring, and Jayden Werner and Jack Wilson, who are unavailable.
Spicer and Jason Hinkley returned from injury through the reserves at the weekend and are likely to receive a call-up to seniors.
“We’ve got a few blokes back so there is some competition for spots, which is good,” Inkster said.
“Hopefully we’ll put in a strong, consistent performance.
“You can’t stop Horsham unless you’re playing your own game, winning your own footy and making the most of it.”
The Eagles need to win on Saturday to retain a chance at the minor premiership.
Demons coach Jordyn Burke said his side would look to continue its strong form.
“We lost to them last time and we don’t want to do that again,” he said.
“There’s a fair bit on the line and we’re looking forward to it.”
Burke said consistency and winning the midfield would be important.
“They beat is in the middle last time, so we’ll be focusing on having our on-ballers win the footy and then doing the right thing with it,” he said.
Burke said Nick Pekin and Brad Hartigan would need to work hard to combat the Eagles’ on-ball unit.
“Ben Lakin is doing well down back and Nath Kelly is in good form, so they’ll have a job to do – especially as their forwards were in pretty good touch last time and kicked a few,” he said.
The Demons will miss Billy Lloyd and Rhona Conboy with Rebels commitments, but are likely to regain the services of ruckman Michael O’Callaghan, who kicked four goals in the reserves at the weekend.