They’re sitting on nine wins alongside three other teams, and coach Brad Chalmers is desperate to put some distance between the Bandits and their competition.

“At this stage of the season it’s about getting wins on the board,” Chalmers said.

“We need to make sure we keep sides like Brisbane at arm’s length, and I’m sure the boys will be keen to atone for our earlier loss to them.

“But at the end of the day I’m looking for solid execution of our game plan.

“If we see that, we’re a good chance of putting another win on the board.”

Chalmers wants Cory Dixon to continue with his style of play, despite the star forward being fouled out after just 14 minutes against Dandenong last week.

“We aren’t expecting Cory to change any aspect of his game play after last week, but we have spoken about making sure he doesn’t get too out of shape when calls are a bit iffy,” the coach said.

“The refereeing last weekend was a bit different to what we’ve been used to, but it’s a matter of adapting to that within the game.”

While Alex Bogart-King did a good job of filling in for Dixon last weekend, scoring 14 points and 12 rebounds, Chalmers said he was unlikely to play any extra minutes in the short term.

“Alex played a great role for us coming on last week, but we don’t jump at shadows,” he said.

“Nothing will change that much for him this week, if he gets a few extra minutes on the back of a good performance then so be it, but I want to see that week in, week out.

“One game won’t mean that he comes straight into the starting side, but he’s certainly added to a growing body of work.”

While the Spartans have fallen behind the pack in recent weeks, Chalmers wasn’t ready to write them off, expecting a tight contest.

“We didn’t show up to play the last time we took on Brisbane, so obviously we need a better effort this time,” he said.

“This is a must win game if we want to make playoffs.”