WHITE Hills is preparing for a grueling upcoming month of games in the Heathcote District league.

The Demons begin the second half of the season in sixth position on the ladder and over the next four weeks confront the competition's top four teams - Lockington-Bamawm United (2nd), Mount Pleasant (3rd), North Bendigo (4th) and Colbinabbin (1st).

"We have spoken about these next four games and just how important they all are," White Hills coach Jack Fallon said on Friday.

"Having played those four teams once already we know what we're coming up against and what they do well, so we'll adjust a bit better than we did the first time and to be able to knock a couple of them off would be nice."

The Demons went 1-3 in their first outings against the top four sides, beating North Bendigo (12 points), but falling well short of LBU (69), Mount Pleasant (76) and Colbinabbin (65).

The tough run of matches starts at Lockington on Saturday at what is again becoming one of the fortresses of the competition, with the Cats having won their past 15 games at home by an average of 80 points.

"We know Lockington is a high quality team and is going to be tough, but if we can focus on what we need to do well then I'm confident it will be game on," Fallon said.

"We've faced some challenges this year in terms of COVID and injuries and not being able to get a full side on the park, I think there's promising signs and we've shown when we beat North what we can do.

"Our 4-4 record may not look great on the ladder, but I'm happy with how the boys are working away and after the past couple of weeks of conversations we've had I'm confident the second half of the year will be better for us."

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The Demons, who haven't beaten the Cats since 2017, will unveil a first-gamer on Saturday with Josh Harris earning a call-up from the under-18s to make his senior debut.

"Josh has come across from Sandhurst and just been dominating in the under-18s," Fallon said.

"He probably deserved an opportunity two or three weeks ago, but position-wise couldn't crack in.

"He dominated the under-18 game again last week and I think he's going to be good value for us in terms of coming in and playing across half-back and through the midfield.

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"He's a good skilled player and really calm, so I'm excited to see how he goes."

Saturday's match of the round in the HDFNL features two of the top four sides meeting when North Bendigo (4th) hosts Colbinabbin (1st) at Atkins Street.

In other round 10 games, Huntly will continue its push for its first win when it hosts the season's big improvers Heathcote, while Mount Pleasant meets Elmore.

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