SOUTHERN United will face their biggest challenge this Saturday, April 27 since entering Newcastle zone football last year.
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The Ospreys will meet Newcastle Croatia at Boronia.
Both sides have two wins from three starts this year.
Southern United go into the clash on the back of an impressive 6-1 hammering of Mayfield in Newcastle last Saturday while Croatia's encounter was postponed due to wet weather.
"Croatia will be a huge test - there's a few players there with top level experience and they looked pretty sharp when we watched them in their grand final last season,'' Southern United coach Jonathon Newman said.
"I know that if we are to achieve our ambition of winning the league this year then we've got to be able to beat sides like Croatia, who by all accounts have invested heavily to try to ensure they achieve the same goal," he said.
Mark Mallia and Jake Camilleri were both injured against Mayfield and will be in doubt for Saturday while Lachlan France is out.
However, the Ospreys will welcome Ethan Perry back for his first game of the season while Nathan Hoffman and Mason Moore are available.
"We'll be close to full strength,'' Newman said.
Southern was beaten by Stockton a fortnight ago and Newman said he was pleased by the way they bounced back against Mayfield.
They had injury problems going into the encounter, with Perry, Moore and Hoffman all ruled out.
Newman said their replacements, Roan Whiteman, Blake Harrison and Baden Bell all performed strongly, showing the club has depth.
