Coach Greg Thomas's squad makes the trek south to take on Lara United, which will be aiming to recover from a one-nil first-up loss to Balmoral.

Lara United was one of the MSL 5 West's top teams in 2021, placed third on the ladder, a solitary point behind second-placed Barwon, when the season was cancelled after 14 rounds due to COVID.

Bendigo City has been hard hit by injury and unavailability, with at least three of its stars unable to take make the trip.

Last week's goal scorer, striker Luke Burns has a family commitment, while joint acting skipper Daniel Purdy and Connor Boxshall are both out due to COVID protocols.

Another of the team's more experienced players Sam Farr is considered only a 50-50 chance of lining up.

Despite missing at least three of his team's best, Thomas is confident Bendigo City can build on the impressive work and momentum gained from last weeks's stirring one-nil win over Maidstone United.

"Missing a few, it's going to be a bit of a backs-to-the-wall weekend," he said.

"It's not great after the first round having these things happen, but I'm pretty confident the guys, who come for in for us, can do the job as well.

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"That's the whole idea of us having this depth with a bigger squad, guys get an opportunity and if they do well, they are a chance to keep their spot."

Young gun Lewis Merriman, who replaced Burns in the 67th minute last week against Maidstone United, will get the start at striker, while Sean Boxshall has been promoted to the starting line-up.

Thomas said under-18 Riley Henderson had earned also earned a call-up for some bright early season form.

"I'm more than confident those guys can do the job. I'm sure they will all rise to the occasion," he said.

"It's going to be a tough game, Lara was towards the top last year and playing at home, they will have a decent-size crowd and will no doubt be very vocal.

"It's another challenge, but I'm sure the boys will meet that challenge and get a result.

"Losing to Balmoral last week, Lara won't want to lose two in a row. You are basically playing catch-up dropping your first two."

READ MORE: Luke Burns praises young Bendigo City team-mates' maturity in win

Bendigo City could not have scripted a better reintroduction to senior soccer than with an opening round win against a formidable opponent.

While the margin could perhaps have been bigger than a one-nil result, a valuable three points in the bag, hopefully combined with another three this weekend, would really set City's season up.

A key theme for City against Lara United will simply be building on last week's impressive momentum.

"We'd like to keep it fairly tight in the back, and I think the biggest thing with a young group like this is staying very disciplined and maintaining the work-rate," Thomas said.

"It was a hot day last week, but the guys just worked hard and that's all we ask of them again this week.

"Hard work goes a long way to getting a result."

City excelled defensively against Maidstone United, led by acting captain Will Keating, Arshdeep Singh and Ruben White.

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