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Souths welcome back representative forward Seb Rollings when they take on Wests on Sunday and try to hold off Maitland for a top-four spot in the men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League.
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The Lions are fourth on 14 points after upsetting second-placed Norths (18 points) last week, and they face another test against third-placed Wests (16) at Newcastle International Hockey Centre from 2.30pm.
Maitland are behind on 12 points but hold a nine-goal edge on Souths, meaning they can take back fourth spot if Souths lose and they beat last-placed Tigers on Sunday (11.30pm) at NIHC in round 15.
"It's another important game for us," Souths coach Glenn Bisson said.
"We've got to make the most of these couple of weeks, otherwise we'll drop out of the top four. Wests will be difficult again and we'll need to be at our best again."
Veteran Simon Vimpani is out for Souths with a hamstring injury, while national under-16 players Archie Clark and Luke Schmude are away. Defender Scott McKenzie and Rollings are back.
"We've had a few in and a few out, but hopefully we start to get a little bit of consistency back into our team, which we have missed over the past month," Bisson said. "We played a really good game last week, there was lots of energy in the team and we stuck to a game plan pretty well."
Leaders Gosford (23) host Norths at midday in the other game on Sunday. The Newcastle women's premier league rests this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Kookaburras' Paris Olympic campaign starts on Saturday (9.15pm, AEST) against Argentina. Norths products Ky Willott and Matt Dawson are part of Australia's squad.
The Hockeyroos, featuring ex-Souths player Mariah Williams, start on Sunday (8.45pm) against South Africa.