Clint Lancaster says Aberdeen Women will have nothing to lose when they head to SWPL champions Glasgow City this weekend.
The Dons take on City at Petershill Park on Sunday in their final match before the split.
Lancaster’s side know they will finish the season in the bottom six – sitting seventh in the table but 13 points adrift of sixth-place Partick Thistle.
The Dons suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat against Glasgow City when the sides met at Balmoral Stadium in October, having led 2-1 early in the second half before last season’s league winners fought back.
The Glasgow side have their work cut out as they bid to defend their title – they sit in third spot and four points adrift of leaders Rangers.
Dons Women head coach Lancaster says his players can treat this Sunday’s game as a free hit before they focus on finishing best of the rest after the split.
He said: “That will be a tough one but we have nothing to lose so we might as well have a go.
“We know we are going to be sitting seventh at the split.
“We won’t be playing Glasgow City again this season so we might as well have a go.”
Lancaster feels the Dons can take positives from their recent 4-3 victory against Dundee United when the Dons came from 3-1 down to take the points thanks to Eilidh Shore’s injury-time winner.
He said: “I was happy with the performance, certainly the second half.
“Even reflecting on the first half, I thought we played some good football at times but we conceded some really poor goals.
“It wasn’t like they blew us away, it was just sloppiness on our part.”
Finishing the season with a flourish
After this weekend’s test in Glasgow, the Dons will begin their post-split fixtures with a home match against Spartans on March 17 before a trip to Motherwell on March 31.
They will play each of the other bottom six sides home and away with the league campaign ending away to Dundee United on May 15.
Lancaster added: “I would have preferred to end the season at home but we start at home and our penultimate game is at home.
“I’m really not too disappointed with how the fixtures have turned out.
“Two of our three midweek games are at home so I can’t argue too much.
“I’m looking forward to it.
“The aim is to have a good finish to the season and collect as many points as we can from each game.
“We are nine points clear in seventh spot. We have been in this position a while now but that will change.
“We will probably drop points (this weekend) and others will pick up points.
“We have been in seventh position for a long time and this is ideally where we will like to finish now.
“We are pretty much full-strength for this weekend which is great.”