Instead their 1-0 loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers at Campbelltown on Sunday means they have to rely on results going their way over the next week before finals start in a fortnight.

With ladder-leading Sydney FC losing 3-1 to Newcastle on Saturday, a Canberra win would have sent them top of the ladder and only needing to beat Melbourne Victory next week in the final round to stay there.

Instead, their destiny is now in the hands of others.

And they're no guarantee to get star striker Michelle Heyman back before finals as she continues her come back from ankle and toe injuries she suffered last year.

United dominated the statistics against the Wanderers - 26 shots to nine and 55 per cent possession - but couldn't land a killer blow on the disciplined home team.

"It's just a game of missed opportunities ... that's disappointing now because everything was in our hands in terms of if we took care of our own backyard this week and next week all the cards had fallen into place," Canberra coach Rae Dower said.

"Now we have to get back to training, recover well and train well and concentrate on three points at home against Melbourne Victory."

Wanderers striker Katherine Stengel landed what proved to be the knockout punch just before half-time.

Midfielder Paige Nielsen was released into plenty of space with a good ball down the left wing.

She beat her Canberra defender and squared the ball for Stengel to slot it nicely in the corner of Trudy Burke's goal.

For all United's possession, their best chance came in the 69th minute when acting captain Ashleigh Sykes put a great ball across the face of the Wanderers goal, but just out of the reach of Jasmyne Spencer's foot.

United co-captain Ellie Brush wasn't picked in the XV after she played for the GWS Giants in an AFL Women's trial against the Brisbane Lions in Brisbane on Saturday.

It means she'll have to wait another week to play her 100th W-League game after a knee injury has kept her out for six weeks.

Dower said she'd come into contention to play the Victory, but she didn't expect Heyman to be ready.

"She's probably still a few weeks away yet. It's not really the ankle, the ankle has sorted itself out now it's that little toe problem that she picked up in the early rounds against," she said.

"Everything's just a week-by-week basis with Michelle."

AT A GLANCE

Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Katherine Stengel 43) bt Canberra United 0 at Campbelltown Stadium.