Socceroos forward Brandon Borrello is set to return to the A-League Men pitch against Macarthur FC after two months on the sidelines.
The Western Sydney player was forced to miss Australia's Asian Cup campaign after sustaining a foot injury in the club's 1-0 derby win over Sydney FC in November.
Fouled by Sky Blues skipper Luke Brattan in the opening minutes, Borrello had been projected to spend at least three months out of action with a foot fracture.
But his speedy recovery has meant an inclusion in the extended Wanderers squad taking on the Bulls at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Dutch midfielder Jorrit Hendrix also returns this weekend after limping off the field against Central Coast on January 6.
Now halfway through the season, winger Dylan Pierias hopes the return of their cavalry will ensure more consistent results for the high-flying Wanderers.
The fourth-placed Wanderers will be chasing their first back-to-back win since November after their 1-0 win over Western United in Tasmania last round.
"This week is very important - we want to edge that gap where we're at the top of the table," Pierias said on Friday.
"If you want to be at the top of the table - like we want to and we believe we can - then you need to start winning games in a row instead of having this, one point, no point, win, loss, win, loss.
"We've been unlucky with a few injuries to some big players but luckily for us, they're coming back in now and they're really important players to our squad."
Western Sydney are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Macarthur but they have never defeated them at Campbelltown.
Separated by two points, the fifth-placed Bulls could leapfrog their local rivals if they come out on top on Sunday.
Macarthur centre-back and fellow Socceroo Matthew Jurman expects his teammates to come out firing after settling for their fourth draw in five games last round.
"It's been frustrating especially because we've been so close to winning some of those games," Jurman said on Friday.
"We should be a lot higher on the table if we won some of those games.
"We switch off a little bit and I feel like we need to ... have a bit more mongrel in us to finish games off, especially in the last 10-15 minutes.
"That's something that we're trying to do now and make sure we put things right in this game on Sunday."
