Canberra United’s finals hopes are still alive with the club set to be given back the three points they were deducted by the governing body.

Canberra were docked the points for using a fourth substitution-window in their 2-1 win against Sydney FC on February 11, with the Australian Professional Leagues instead awarding the Sky Blues a 3-0 victory.

But reports on Friday suggest Football Australia’s appeals process has reinstated Canberra’s win.

The club appeared to confirm the result via Twitter on Friday, playfully suggesting Ellie Brush’s 87th-minute matchwinner was “possibly the latest winning goal in history”.

Canberra’s appeal centred around their belief they had received permission from the fourth official to make the substitution, coach Njegosh Popovich suggesting his side were only “guilty of following the direction of referees”.

With the three points re-distributed from Sydney FC to Canberra, Western United would go into their penultimate regular-season game – against Canberra on Saturday – five points clear of the second-ranked Sky Blues. 

A win would all-but-seal a remarkable premiership for the Victorian club, in their first season in the ALW.

Sydney have a game in hand on Western United, with three home matches in the next week on the run-in to finals.

Canberra, who would move two points back from fifth-placed Melbourne Victory with two games to play, would also have their finals hopes revived.

They will be kicking themselves for dropping points against the Victory last weekend, leading 1-0 before conceding an 88th-minute equaliser.

By Alex Mitchell in Canberra