After navigating their way through five trips up and down the Pacific Highway, United's next challenge comes in the form of a 7pm Saturday night fixture - believed to be their first-ever on home soil.

The Green Bloods were impressive in a 2-0 win over Northern Storm last weekend, but were lethargic in a 2-1 loss to Sawtell on Wednesday night.

Coach Nathan Wade indicated there would be some changes after their midweek fixture.

"As soon as Simon Granfield doesn't play we lose all direction, we've got no leaders in the team," he said.

"He directed the boys around the field against Northern Storm when we looked impressive, but on Wednesday no one wanted to take control."

Wade said how well he could manage his players on a short turnaround would rely heavily on "who was available."

Despite being only two wins behind ladder-leaders Port Saints with more than two-thirds of the season remaining, the coach said they faced an uphill battle to challenge for the premiership.

The 2020 season will not feature any finals - it will be first past the post.

"The disappointing thing is we're no chance of finishing first and it's not like there are semi-finals," he said.

"There's no incentive now for our team to put in the hard yards because we're too far back now and that's our own fault."

United instead could play the role of nuisance value in the back end of the season.

"They'll have the occasional game where they'll upset some of the big guns," Wade said.

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