And coach Aurelio Vidmar is ready to roll the dice on injured players to keep City's title defence alive.
City led Adelaide 1-0 on Sunday evening and were on track to finish third and host a home elimination final before the Reds mounted a dramatic late comeback to win 2-1.
Adelaide leapfrogged Auckland into second, forcing Steve Corica's charges into a home elimination final against City at Go Media Stadium next Saturday.
Vidmar lamented the "opportunity lost" but believes his players can dust themselves off.
"Well we have to. There's no hiding from the fact that we've got to go travel to Auckland and it's not a place that we've done well over our last two visits there," Vidmar said.
"But it's a final. Obviously they're going to have a fair crowd behind them but it's a game and a final - anything can happen and we just have to go there with the sleeves rolled up and ready to compete for every single ball."
City appear certain to be without Samuel Souprayen, who suffered a left knee injury against Adelaide and Kavian Rahmani (achilles), who was injured at training on Saturday.
Ryan Teague (knee) appears unlikely while Andrew Nabbout (soreness) will have to prove his fitness.
But Nathaniel Atkinson (soreness) and Daniel Arzani (hamstring) could return.
"Should be a better chance for Nate. Daniel, I'm not really sure - be pretty close, I would say," Vidmar said.
"But again, we'll have to wait (until) early next week. He (Arzani) had a reasonable session today and said he felt fine. So let's see what it's like next week.
"But probably (we'll) have to roll the dice a little bit on some."
City lost to Auckland 3-0 away in February and know what they're up against.
"Everything's possible. As I said, it's not an easy place to go to but it's a final, concentration levels have to be at a very high level and anything can happen," Vidmar said.
"We've beaten them here already, and I know we're going to Auckland but they've had a bit of an inconsistent season for them as well after last year.
"They'll be hurting as well for the position they were in most of the year and find themselves finishing third.
"So we have a bit of work to do and making sure that we go there with the right focus and the right attitude."
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