After losses to Orange Wanderers and Lithgow Zig Zag, United are very keen to get a win on the board and will be full of running for tomorrow’s clash.

They will hope to emulate the feat of the United womens side who last week defeated Lithgow Panthers womens team 3-0 in Parkes.

Like the men, Lithgow are defending premiers as well.

As if the task will not be hard enough tomorrow, Parkes’ men will go into the match minus their two main attacking threats so far this year.

Jack Elliott is unavailable as he returns to Sydney for grade hockey commitments.

Matt Job, a goal-scoring revelation this season, will be in Grafton refereeing at the Under 15 State Championships.

United captain Dan Wilson believes his team have the skill and the game plan to get the points over the champions.

“We have been getting better each week and hopefully tomorrow we can put it all together and come away with a win,” Wilson said.

“Unfortunately it is another week of shuffling the team around.

“Jack and Matt are big losses, but on the other hand, Ben Hawken returns from Over 35s where he was in good form to make the NSW team.

“He will help strengthen the defence which has been a real problem area for us so far this year.

“It is likely Mitch Ward will make his Premier League debut. 

“He is an exciting young player who looks to have a long career ahead of him.

“Nathan Munday will make a return to Premier League after a few years away,” he said.

United have leaked nine goals in two matches this season, an area they will need to improve on when they go up against one of the better attacks in the competition.

“Panthers will be a huge test after the letdown of last week,” Wilson said.

“After being up 3-1 and going on to lose 4-3 was very disappointing.

“We know they have firepower up front and they showed that last week with a 13-0 mauling of Bathurst City so we know what to expect.

“Defensively we need to go back to the basics by defending 60 metres of the pitch as a team, rather than the whole field. 

“We can not eliminate ourselves by trying to rush the ball carrier and make the spectacular tackle.

“Will be looking to control possession across the pitch and set the tempo of the game by showing more patience with the ball and not forcing the long pass. “After halftime last week, we came out and made an effort to play the early ball and let the ball do the work for us and we had two goals inside of five minutes.

“But, after that we started to force the longer pass and we know how that ended up,” he said.

Parkes United play Lithgow Panthers at 1.30pm tomorrow.

Likely United team is: Dooley Thomson, Ben Townsend, Ben Hawken, Dan Wilson, Mitch Townsend, Tim Somers, Reg Hotham, Pete Amor, Aaron Thorne, Nathan Munday, Brad Gardiner, Brad Simpson, Mitch Ward and Andrew Bourke with the team to be confirmed after local hockey.