Warriors FC head coach Alex Weaver hopes to have his strongest team available when they clash with Home United on Thursday in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League.
The reigning champions had to do without three foreigners against Courts Young Lions in their previous match, which they lost 2-0.
It was only the second time in 12 league games that they have failed to score this season, Weaver pointed out while explaining how the absences of midfielder Thomas Beattie and key attacking pair Nicolas Velez and Miroslav Pejic affected his side.
"It doesn't matter who you're playing at this level, whether it's Harimau Muda or Tampines Rovers... if you miss two of your key strikers, you're going to struggle going forward and that really was the difference," he told ESPN FC.
"As well as the Young Lions played -- and they did play very well -- we were not at our strongest. So that makes a difference."
There is good news though as Velez, who has seven league goals and assists each, will be ready to start against the Protectors. Ditto Kevin McCann, who made a substitute appearance against the Young Lions.
Pejic is not fit enough to make the starting lineup but will "play some part", although Beattie is definitely still sidelined.
"We are well prepared and we just hope that we can get our strongest team out in this game against Home United and if we can do that, then we'll be confident of getting a good result," he said.
Weaver also believes that they "didn't do that much wrong" against the Young Lions. Therefore, they are under no extra pressure to get a result despite it being a derby clash.
"Normally when we've had a performance like against Balestier Khalsa [who defeated Warriors 4-0 in the TNP League Cup], where we were just nowhere near what we were capable of, the players know that and are determined to come back and put things right," said Weaver.
"Against Courts Young Lions, I thought the players did well to some extent. So they don't have anything to prove against Home United just because we lost."
However, the Englishman is under no illusions that it will be a "big challenge" against Philippe Aw's side, who held Brunei DPMM to a goalless draw last time out.
Home should have a full-strength team, with the exception of long-term casualty Noh Rahman. Tabs will have to be kept on star frontman Ken Ilso, who showed glimpses of quality against DPMM as he completed his first match in four months.
"Home are a strong team, they've got some very good players in there," said Weaver, who watched the Protectors' game against DPMM from the stands.
"They've matched them twice this season, so we know it's going to be a very difficult game."
While the Warriors top the table at the moment, Weaver acknowledged that it is "important" to start stringing together victories as teams around them start to pick up in the second half of the season.
"It's always important to put good results together; we are in a situation now where teams have come back from the break and they've got points," he said.
"If we get a good result against Home United, there's a possibility that we can put together a decent run at this crucial stage of the season."
Warriors FC Probable Lineup: Daniel Ong, Emmeric Ong, Daniel Bennett, Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Kevin McCann, Azlan Abdul Razak, Nicolas Velez, Hafiz Rahim, Karlo Ivancic, Fazrul Nawaz.
Home United Probable Lineup: Shahril Jantan, Ang Zhi Wei, Abdil Qaiyyim, R. Aaravin, Sirina Camara, Song Ui-young, Yasir Hanapi, Azhar Sairudin, Stanely Ng, Kamel Ramdani, Ken Ilso.