New skipper Luke Brattan says there's still life in Macarthur's A-League Men season, despite their shaky form being compounded by the abrupt exit of star striker Valere Germain.
Brattan takes over the Bulls captaincy from Germain, who with a move to Japan on the table, quit the club last week citing concerns over the standard of refereeing.
The French forward's departure follows a whirlwind of January transfer window activity where the Bulls sold Ariath Piol, Oliver Jones and Jed Drew to clubs overseas.
"You look at our starting team now compared to the first couple of games it's completely different," Brattan told AAP.
"Losing six or seven players is hard to deal with, and they were all starting players."
Macarthur also had four players on Young Socceroos duty over the last month at a time when their season took a turn for the worse.
Mile Sterjovski's side has won just one in their last five and sit in eighth spot ahead of Saturday's home clash with Sydney FC.
"(Germain) is irreplaceable. It's been tough. He's our captain, one of our best players," Brattan added.
"Last year, I was captain of Sydney and won the (Australia) Cup. So, if we win another trophy with me being captain, that's the main goal.
"I have to be better and helping the team with game management and seeing games out.
"We need to get results because the league at the moment is so tight."
On the other side of the coin are Sydney FC, who also sit outside the top six after a lacklustre 0-0 draw against second-last Perth Glory on Sunday.
With the Sky Blues one point in front of Macarthur and two behind the finals spots, captain Rhyan Grant said Saturday's meeting in Campbelltown was crucial to their top-six hopes.
"We need to be more ruthless. Defensively we haven't been great, and we've scored a lot of goals," Grant told AAP.
"On the weekend it was the opposite. So hopefully we can find a middle ground somewhere.
"It starts on Saturday against Macarthur. They'll be a tough opposition, so it'll be interesting."
