The Western Force have been offered a chink of light ahead of their crunch Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Chiefs in Perth.

Going into the weekend, the Force's finals fate was no longer in their own hands following last week's 52-14 loss to the Melbourne Rebels.

That result dropped the Force to ninth spot with just one round remaining.

It meant they needed either the Highlanders to lose to the Blues on Friday night, or the Reds to be beaten by the Fijian Drua on Saturday, to have any hope of sneaking into the top eight.

Opportunity knocked when the Blues won a gritty battle at Eden Park 16-9 to leave the eighth-placed Highlanders two points clear of the Force and looking anxiously over their shoulder.

Now, the equation is simple. All the Force need to do to lock in a finals berth is topple the ladder-leading Chiefs in the final game of the round.

Prior to the regular season's final round, Force coach Simon Cron said he would not let the Reds and Highlanders' games distract him from the task at hand.

"I won't (pay close attention to them)," Cron said.

"I will focus on what we've got to do. Ultimately we need to win, so that's what we need to focus on."

The Chiefs have lost just once all season, but the Force's cause has been helped by their opponents resting most of their front-line players in order to freshen them up for the start of the finals.

The New Zealand outfit's 31-21 win over the Brumbies last week guaranteed they will finish first, and they have made a whopping 11 changes to their starting line-up.

Stars including Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane, Brad Weber and Damian McKenzie are among the All Blacks being rested, but Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan is still determined to walk away with the win.

"We've earned the luxury of being able to do what we've done, which has taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears," McMillan said.

"We know it's important going into the finals series to have some momentum.

"Although there's some front liners that are getting an opportunity to freshen up, our mentality stays the same - to put our best foot forward and keep growing our game.

"If you stay stagnant, you get passed. That's our mentality."

The Force are a perfect five-wins-from-five at home this season, and are desperate to keep that record going.

The return of Wallabies lock Izack Rodda, prop Santiago Medrano and halfback Gareth Simpson to the starting line-up has given them a much-needed dose of firepower.

If the Force end up finishing eighth, they will take on the Chiefs again in the first week of the finals - this time in New Zealand.

"Once you're in there, anything goes," Cron said.

"It's knockout for them, and knockout for us. Once you're in there, all bets are off."