![Michelle Heyman has four games to score six goals to reach her 100-goal target. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Michelle Heyman has four games to score six goals to reach her 100-goal target. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/ada34b24-c8d8-41f4-b9f3-21a20fe887af.jpg/r0_289_5000_3100_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Canberra United coach Njegosh Popovich is adamant his team can be a title contender this season despite a controversial points-deduction hanging over their heads as they fight for a top-four spot.
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Canberra United is finalising an official appeal to a harsh penalty imposed by the Australian Professional Leagues after the team was ruled to have used an ineligible substitute in a game four weeks ago.
The timing of the decision has thrown Canberra's hopes of getting back into the A-League Women's finals into chaos, leaving them one win behind of the fourth-placed Melbourne Victory with four games left in the regular season.
The substitution in question - when Grace Taranto replaced Michelle Heyman in the 93rd minute against Sydney FC in February - was approved by the fourth official at McKellar Park.
The APL has since determined it was outside the designated three substitution windows allowed during a game. Two players can be replaced at the same time and will fall into the same window.
But it has emerged there is confusion about the use of injury and concussion substitutions in additional windows and that Canberra was told they were allowed to make one more change in the dying minutes of a 2-1 win.
Canberra had been level with Melbourne on 23 points with a similar goal difference, but are now fighting against the odds despite winning their past four games in a row.
Popovich says his players won't be distracted by the off-field drama, praising senior players for their maturity and refocusing the squad for a clash against the Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday.
"We're focused on what we know our tasks are," Popovich said.
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"The process is happening as we speak, the appeals process is being put together and we won't dwell on it.
"The senior players have definitely been heavily involved in keeping the focus on our game and moving forward."
The fact the fourth official approved Canberra's substitution will surely play into the team's favour, but Football Australia said it was unable to comment about the referee involvement until after the appeal had been heard.
Canberra has seven business days to respond to the penalty, which was announced on Monday, and the club is expected to submit its appeal early next week.
A-Leagues commissioner Greg O'Rourke said: "under the laws of the game (law 5 - the referee) the match officials are responsible for permitting the substitution of players."
Asked if he was confident the appeal would see the penalty overturned, Popovich said: "yes".
Asked if he was frustrated in the APL enforcing a harsh points deduction when the Melbourne Victory escaped the same punishment despite their fans assaulting an opposition player and referee, and a Melbourne City player throwing a flare into the crowd, Popovich said: "I could comment on a lot of things, I guess.
"In terms of what's happened in recent times in Australian football ... there never seems to have been [other teams] dropping points for, in my opinion, more sever matters.
"But there's a process, we're following the process and hopefully in a couple of weeks we get a successful outcome."
Canberra has been flying in the past month, firing warning shots to their rivals and staking their claim to be a finals contender.
They are still in a position to make the top four and have set their sights on winning their remaining four games against the Wanderers, Melbourne Victory, Western United and Melbourne City to book their return to the play-offs for the first time in two years.
Michelle Heyman has been in stunning form, scoring seven goals just in the past month - more than twice as many as any other player. Heyman started the season with 82 ALW goals and set herself a target of reaching 100.
She has so far scored 12 goals in 14 games this year, putting her on 94 overall and in touching distance of the century milestone.
"It's exciting for the whole club," Popovich said. "It's exciting for Michelle, it's exciting for me as a coach because that was part of the discussion we had at the start of the year - incentivise her to get to that 100 goals.
"She's a champion and she'll get there this year ... If we win every game, we're in the top four. It would be a sweet victory to lift the cup [this season]."
Sasha Grove and Chloe Lincoln will return from Young Matildas duties on Sunday morning, but they won't be rushed back into Popovich's team after 30 hours of travel to get home.
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