There’s nothing like spoiling the party of one of your oldest rivals.

Wangaratta City FC’s senior men’s side has the chance to ruin Myrtleford Savoy’s prospects of a consecutive league title when the two fierce rivals meet for the second time this season on Sunday.

Myrtleford sits a game behind ladder leaders Albury City with three matches left in the season, needing to win all of their remaining matches and Albury to fail at least twice.

If the Devils can pinch some points this weekend with a draw or an upset win, it makes it that much harder for Myrtleford.

As if Wangaratta needed any more motivation.

While it hasn’t been a season overflowing with success, the Devils have been solid, despite a slight dip in form over recent months in large part due to injuries to starting XI players.

Coach Vitaly Leschen said they were coming out the other side of a rough block of matches, with some walk-up starting players set to return this weekend.

“It just hasn’t gone our way as of yet, you can put it down to injuries, you can put it down to a variety of factors,” he said.

“I think we’re getting back to our strongest again, as in on the weekend the only people we were missing were Lachie [Campbell], Fraser [D’Agostino] and Raul [Pahina] - Lachie’s coming back this week, Fraser’s coming back this week and Raul is a smoky to come back this week but probably still a week or two away.

“It’s come at the right time in terms of getting these players back on the park.

“If I had to choose when it would have occurred, I’d probably choose it this way over injuries going through finals.

“We’ve got a good couple of weeks now, and I still believe there’s enough quality in the group that, come finals, no matter where we finish, we can do some damage.”

The local derby between the two proud Victorian clubs in a largely NSW-dominated competition has always brought out the best in both sides.

Last season, Wangaratta stunned the comp by holding the all-conquering Savoy to a draw to throw their league chances in jeopardy.

Leschen, who has played at both clubs over his career, said the local derby was part of the fabric of the two organisations.

“I think it kind of epitomises what community footy is about,” he said.

“There’s a lot of history behind both clubs, there’s a lot of rivalry across the two clubs.

“It just adds extra emotion and meaning to the game, it just makes it a better game and a better weekend all round.

“We pulled a point off them last season, and it was at a similar stage of the season, and it was a catalyst for a bit of belief across the squad going into finals.

“The plan will be to go out, take the game to them, and try and pull some points off them.

“At the end of the day, they’re still fighting for the league, and it would be nice if their biggest rival put a stop to that.”

The match between Wangaratta City and Myrtleford Savoy commences at 3pm this Sunday at South Wangaratta.

Meanwhile, the Lady Devils will take the bye due to Myrtleford not fielding a team in the division two women's competition.