Thunderbirds captain Natalie von Bertouch set to face Queensland Firebirds Adelaide Thunderbirds star Natalie von Bertouch in the hands of the trainer after a heavy fall. ADELAIDE Thunderbirds captain Nat von Bertouch will play the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane on Saturday. Despite being on court for only one quarter of the one-goal victory over the Melbourne Vixens on Sunday, the Thunderbirds are supremely confident von Bertouch will be in the midcourt for the clash against the competition pacesetters. Von Bertouch joined her team-mates for a pool recovery session on Monday night and is expected to win her race to recover from a corked thigh. She crashed heavily to the court in the opening quarter after a collision with Vixens skipper Bianca Chatfield and played out the period in discomfort. Just a minute into the second quarter she was forced to leave the game and was replaced by Leigh Waddington. Youngster Maddy Proud, who took von Bertouch's spot during the pre-season while she overcame finger surgery, is now with the AIS in Canberra but would be the replacement player if the captain was forced out. Not surprisingly, the Thunderbirds had a buoyant recovery workout before being put through a series of fitness tests at SASI yesterday. "No one is getting carried away with the win against the Vixens and the focus has already turned to the Firebirds," Thunderbirds coach Jane Woodlands-Thompson said. There will be no letdown after the weekend. We pencilled in the three rounds starting with the Vixens as a mini finals series and that focus is still there. The Firebirds are on top of the ladder and have yet to drop a game. They beat us at the pre-season tournament in Melbourne and have taken that form into the season. Woodlands-Thompson again lauded her players for the manner in which they responded to frank discussions following the 14-goal loss to the Vixens in round two. She said the players had always had a mature approach to their work but she believes the side has grown as a group in recent weeks. "The discussions after round two were very honest and I respect their courage to take the feedback on board," Woodlands-Thompson said. It took a huge contribution from the players to bridge that 14-goal gap and they were outstanding. We knew where we sat after that game and used it to our advantage to improve. It is often said that you learn more from a loss and in this case it is very true.