The Lions are tasked with a road trip to Ironbark Stadium to take on Rushworth in what shapes as an early season-defining moment for both outfits.
Stanhope and Rushworth exit the Easter weekend bye without a win to their name.
And while most may have tipped Lancaster and Murchison-Toolamba to defeat Rushworth, not many predicted Stanhope to sit winless come round three.
“We understand it’s a season-defining match for us. It’s a must-win game,” Patten said.
“Rushworth are a bit of an unknown for us. What I do know is that they will put in a bold showing and I’m expecting it to be a tough contest.
“We think we are well prepared and hopefully we can get over the line.”
Although the Lions sit 10th on the ladder, Patten said his outfit wasn’t at panic stations yet.
He said the playing group had focused on getting back to basics over the break.
“We’ve just been working on small areas and trying to build our fitness levels,” Patten said.
“We’ve been in games but we just haven’t been able to get the job done. We’ve been beaten by better teams on the day, unable to take our chances and we have a new team trying to gel.”
Patten revealed that talented forward Luke Mann would miss the clash as he recovered from a broken arm sustained in the loss to Murchison-Toolamba.
Around the grounds, Violet Town faces an almighty test against undefeated outfit Avenel.
Ahead of the clash at Violet Town Recreation Reserve, Avenel coach Kasey Duncan expects the majority of his squad to be back on deck by Thursday night.
“It (the Easter weekend) was really good,” Duncan said.
“Some of the guys were looking forward to the week off to get away with family and friends, but it actually worked really well for us with a few guys coming down with COVID-19.
“We probably would have been without five or six of our better players, so it ended up working really well for us.
“They are always hard to beat up there on what is a smaller ground.
“We feel if can negate the influence of their key forwards, that will go a long way to us winning the game, while we will also look to rely on our usual midfield dominance.
“We should also welcome a few boys back, which will be huge for us. Hayden Heta will return and give us a big boost in the ruck and up forward, Dean Giles will come back into our defence, while I should also return as well.”
Meanwhile, ladder leader Lancaster takes on Tallygaroopna and Girgarre is at home to Longwood.
Merrigum hits the road to take on Dookie United in the remaining Saturday game, while Undera takes on Shepparton East and Nagambie plays host to Murchison-Toolamba in two Sunday fixtures.
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