Ballarat Red Devils coach James Robinson cut a dejected figure in the aftermath of a dispiriting 2-1 loss to fellow relegation battlers Werribee City.
A win would’ve seen the regional club make massive strides towards safety – leapfrogging their opponents out of the relegation zone in the process – but with Port Melbourne also picking up a win, the Reds now sit six points behind the pack, albeit with two games in hand.
“We’ve got four games left, 12 points up for grabs. We’re on 20 points, they’ve just increased it to six points on us,” Robinson said.
“We’ve still got the games in hand so it’s about making sure we still approach the last four games the way we’ve approached every game. We don’t change that but we need to start putting the chances away.”
One of those games is the continued contest against Pascoe Vale, which was halted mid-game due to a head injury to Luca Santilli.
Ballarat will take a 2-0 lead into the rescheduled clash, with the club desperate to hang on for the remaining 23 minutes.
In terms of keeping his charges focused, he confessed some truths will need to be discussed.
“You keep it real. You add the reality to it, we know where we’re sitting on the ladder,” he revealed.
“We’re there at the end of the day so we need to know. We need to make sure we keep pushing forward and know how we’re going to get higher up.
“Everyone’s accountable for what we do. I believe that everyone knows their roles, everyone knows their job so that’s where the accountability comes in.
“You can pick up points a lot easier if everyone knows that, which they all do. Like I said, we’ve got 12 points up for grabs, four games to go and if we win them all, we’re in with a chance to keep pushing up.”
A muscle injury to influential defender Danny O’Donnell could be telling in this crucial month home, with the Ballarat faithful sweating on his fitness.
“It’s his calf, we don’t know the full extent yet. He’ll have to get assessed over the next 24-48 hours and then we’ll go from there. Hopefully it’s not too bad.”