By Alex Mitchell in Canberra

CANBERRA hope to resolve their second-half woes when they battle in-form Newcastle at GIO Stadium on Saturday.

The fifth-placed Raiders are well positioned in the finals race but have a number of teams nipping at their heels, including the Knights who have  won three straight to move to 10th.

Ricky Stuart’s men are looking to rectify one of their biggest bugbears this year – a poor second-half record in which they have been outscored by 24 tries – against the visitors.

They’ve conceded the first try of the second half in seven of their last eight games, with four of those coming inside the first five minutes.

Stuart acknowledged it was an issue but pointed to his team’s fighting spirit to keep them in matches, like when they scored two tries in the final two minutes to force golden point against the Warriors last weekend.

“I know we’ve got it in us,” said Stuart.

“And people can draw as many pictures as they want about our team in regards to starting slow, not finishing well in the second half, I just try and break it down … in regards to our prep for the next match.

“Yes, second-half starts and our second halves and not letting teams get away on us is certainly a part of the scenario building that we talk and train.

“But it’s not something that is on our mind every day of the week, there’s so much we’ve got to make sure we’ve got covered and starting halves are really important for every football team.”

The Knights stifled the Raiders in a 24-14 win in round four, one of the lower points of the Canberra season before they turned things around to become a genuine top-four contender.

But Newcastle have also found new levels since then and were particularly impressive in a 26-18 win over Melbourne last weekend where a humming left-edge attack tore the Storm to shreds.

“At this stage of the year we need two points,” Stuart said.

“The competition is so congested … every game now is such an important two points for so many football teams because it’s that congested.”