The Hawks return home to Yanco Sportsground on Sunday to take on the Panthers at the earlier time of 1.30pm.

After returning to winning form in recent weeks, Preston wants his side to maintain that momentum into the last rounds of the competition, especially this weekend.

The Black and Whites are nipping at the heels of the top five and desperately need to win if they are to keep their finals chances alive.

"They will definitely be trying to win to get that step closer to getting into fifth," Preston said.

"We can't take them lightly at all."

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Yanco-Wamoon will be taking in the same side as last weekend into the match, with Preston impressed with how well his team is meshing together at the moment.

The Hawks have won their last two matches and find themselves sitting third on the ladder, but are equal second on points with West Wyalong.

Preston believes the key to winning this weekend will be minimizing mistakes and penalties where possible.

"That's going to be pretty crucial ... just getting rid of some of those silly mistakes," he said.

"That's when the other team can get a bit of a jump on you, but if you don't make the mistakes, you can keep the control."

Should the Hawks win and West Wyalong lose to ladder-leaders on Sunday, Yanco-Wamoon has the opportunity to jump into second place.

Preston would like his side to win their remaining games before the finals get underway.

However, they have several hard matches coming up, including against West Wyalong and Leeton in the last two rounds of the competition before the finals.

Next weekend they will play Yenda.

"We're still taking it week-by-week at the moment," Preston said.

"At the moment this weekend we just need to turn up and play well.

"That's the focus."

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