Young pair Sam Artis and Cooper Anthes are set to join an injury-free James Simpson in Blues colours for the must-win encounter while Jono Chapman, who took 8-16 and 4-17 in the corresponding fixture last season, is back for the Shamrocks.

Corey Briggs will also return from a hamstring complaint while Ollie Wood and Jake Williams are in line to play the fixture's second day following the Raiders' last day of the season on Sunday.

Blues captain Tom Garwood said there was no reason his side couldn't get the better of the reigning champions and advance to their first final in three years.

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"We've got our game plan that's been working and we'll take that into this week's game," said Garwood, whose side had the bye last round.

"They've been the strongest club over the last four to five years so it's going to be a tough game, but I think with the way we've been building and the inclusions we've got this week we'll take it right up to them.

"Adding the likes of Kerro [Matthew Kerrison] and Rama [Ramesh Sundra] back into the side and the younger guys who have played a lot of cricket as well - Cooper, Sam, James Simpson ... we've got all those guys which is really good for us."

While Riverside must win to ensure it holds off Launceston for a semi-final berth, Westbury's top spot could still be snatched by South Launceston.

Seeking early admission to the 2019-20 grand final, the Shamrocks tackled a final-session chase of nearly 150 against Launceston last weekend before finishing the day 8-110.

Captain Dan Murfet said he had been pleased with his team's efforts to secure an outright victory.

"We lost a couple of early wickets, regathered nicely but then lost another clump and it just became too much and a little bit risky so we packed it up," the keeper-batsman said.

"But the whole game was a really attacking game and we backed ourselves no matter what the situation was.

"I'm really happy with how we did that - it would have been nice to take some of the chances but I think the mentality of the guys was good and the fact that we were able to stay switched on and keep the end goal in sight was good."

Play begins at 10.30am at Windsor Park on Saturday.

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