Russells Creek will look to rediscover its winning form when it hosts Allansford on Saturday.
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The Creekers were sitting second after 12 Warrnambool and District league rounds but have slipped to fourth following consecutive losses to Panmure, Nirranda and Kolora-Noorat.
Creekers co-coach Danny Chatfield acknowledged it had been a difficult three weeks for the side.
He said the clash with Allansford was "a bit of a challenge to see where we're at".
"Allansford have been playing some good footy, so it is what it is and we've just got to bounce back," he said.
"We've got to find that belief again."
Chatfield said "multiple things" were responsible for the side's form slump.
"Wet weather footy, trying to be too pretty in the wet weather. It's just getting back to basics," he said.
"It's one thing playing at the Mack Oval, it's always hard as we know but we've got to learn to adapt.
"It's a wet weather game and (we're) just getting caught out of the blocks early.Trying to play catch-up is where the footy's been hard."
Seventh-placed Allansford suffered a 130-point loss to Merrivale on Saturday but was more than competitive against the Creekers when they met in round seven.
The Creekers triumphed by 15 points in that match.
With three rounds to play, the Creekers sit 12 points behind second-placed Panmure. Chatfield said his side was aiming for a third-place finish.
"It's one thing to tick a box and say you're happy to make finals but when you've got the playing list that we do it's just having that belief," he said.
"You get third, you get a second chance, so the next three weeks are going to be the defining moment and then it's a whole new ball game getting into finals."
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