The two sides clash this Saturday at Andrews Park as the Macca look to bounce back from a rare defeat last weekend – their first regular season loss in almost two years.

Coincidentally, their last loss of any description in the longer format of the game was in the 2015/16 grand final against Wauchope.

In a match that pits first against second, Macquarie captain Josh Hyde is looking for a response from his side.

“Every game is important and one you want to win, but you also want to finish strong going into the Christmas break,” he said.

Hyde knows it will be a challenge at a venue where chasing has been difficult all season.

“We haven’t played at Andrews Park all year and they’ve been performing well there, so they’re doing something right,” he said.

“No one has chased anything down there and it’s traditionally difficult to hit boundaries, so you have to run well between the wickets.”

Fraser Carroll returns to the side to add some depth in the middle order.

“He’s been in pretty good form and enjoys playing against Wauchope,” Hyde said.

How well Macquarie handle Wauchope bowlers Matt Miller and Bailey Smith will be key in the overall result.

“Matt’s been one of the best bowlers in the comp and Bailey is usually difficult to get away.”

Hyde expected the match to go down to the wire.

“We’re expecting one of those dogged fights which is always the case when you play Wauchope,” he said.

Wauchope captain Matt Day expects Macquarie to bounce back to form.

“They’re going to be coming out all guns blazing, so I’ll make it known to the boys we need to be on from ball one right up until the 40^th over,” he said.

Nathan Lyon, Aaron Hagenbach and Jason Blythe are all unavailable with Nigel McKenna, Andrew Thomas and Matt Miller to return to the side.

“Matty has made a big difference to our bowling lineup, so he’s back from Stingers duties,” Day said.

The absence of Lyon, Hagenbach and Blythe has forced the captain to re-jig his batting order.

“We’ll shuffle our order around and hopefully come up with a number three,” he said.

The Wauchope skipper admitted he knew Macquarie rarely lost two matches in a row, but was looking forward to the challenge.

“No one is unbeatable, but we respect them and know they’ll come out pretty hard,” he said.

Andrews Park curators have had to work around the clock to fix the pitch after the fence was ripped down around the wicket table during the week.

“It’s pretty average form that people would walk all over it with their studs just after it’s been watered,” Day said.

“We’re confident with a bit of rolling it’ll be fine for Saturday.”