Second on the ladder with a 9-2 record, the Dragons missed out on matches against Kangaroo Flat, South Bendigo and Castlemaine - three games the club expected to win.

That 9-2 record could have quite easily moved to 12-2 and a crucial top-three finish would have been just about guaranteed.

When the season resumes this Saturday the Dragons face a tough four-game stretch that puts their top-three hopes in jeopardy.

The Dragons face Eaglehawk (away), Kyneton (home), Gisborne (away) and Strathfieldsaye (home) and they could need to win three of the four games to cement the double-chance for the finals.

Rather than moan and groan about the fixture, Sandhurst coach Ashley Connick welcomed the tough run home.

"The boys worked really hard on their own and we had a really good session on Thursday night,'' Connick said.

"It was the best we've trained for a long time and we had a good two hours on the track on Saturday.

"We've reset, we've got four games to go and then a finals series.

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"The draw is the draw. The best team will end up winning anyway and we're focused on being the best we can be.

"We're not fussed about how the draw turned out. We've earned the right to be in a really good position and the team that performs best over the next two months we'll win it."

Sandhurst's last game on July 10 was a six-goal loss to Golden Square. The recent lockdown gave Connick extra time to review the film of the match.

"After our last game there was a lot of the season to go and now there's not,'' he said.

"We've had a chance to go through footage of our last game and it showed that we'd dropped off marginally.

"If you drop off marginally against the team around us on the ladder then you're up against it.

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"Some set up stuff that we'd been so good at earlier in the year, we'd just dropped off in those areas and some defensive stuff. We were just off a little bit.

"We had a lull in the middle of the year and lost our focus a touch.

"We've reset and we've looked at the way we need to play to give ourselves the best chance."

The Dragons will basically have a full list to choose from for this Saturday's clash with an Eaglehawk side that must win to keep its finals hopes alive.

However, classy midfielder Jeremy Rodi is unlikely to return this season because of his ongoing hamstring issues.

"It's unlikely he'd come back,'' Connick said of Rodi.

"If he does everything right he could get back for a final.

"We're not putting a line through him, but it would be a bonus if he did get back (in the finals).

"It's probably more about him getting ready for next year."

The in-form Bendigo Pioneers squad has the bye this weekend in the NAB League, so the Dragons could pick some of their talented Pioneers-listed teenagers for the clash with Eaglehawk at Canterbury Park.

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