Sydney FC coach Steve Corica is backing struggling striker Kosta Barbarouses to find form as the Sky Blues embark on a pivotal A-League stretch.
The reigning champions have set their sights on banking maximum points from three consecutive home games, starting with Wednesday night's clash against Western United.
The United fixture is the first of five games in 18 days for Sydney, after which coach Corica expects to get a better understanding of where all clubs sit.
"There are still teams who have played only eight games and there's some on 11," Corica said on Tuesday.
"Once we get to the end of March and everyone is on the same amount of games, we will have a better idea.
"Obviously Central Coast are out in front at the moment and everyone has got to try and catch them.
"But it's still pretty tight underneath ... you get a couple of runs together and you can climb that table quite quickly."
Sydney hold eighth spot with 12 points from nine games, one point ahead of ninth-placed Western United who have played one match less.
The Sky Blues have been winless in four games since February 8, when Barbarouses last scored.
"Obviously he is not happy with where he is at the moment with the goal scoring," Corica said of the New Zealand ace.
"He is getting a lot of opportunities ... he's getting good possessions, it's all about just finishing them off.
"(But) it's not just him, there's other players having opportunities as well which they need to take.
"If you look at out our defensive record, I think we have got the best defence in the league ... we have obviously conceded some silly goals as well which we need to cut out.
"But we're creating a lot of chances. We're dominating a lot of games.
"For me, we're playing really well without the end product at the moment so once we get the quality in that final third right, the games will change for us."
Australian Associated Press
