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The Scotts Lakers fell to a sorry 23-point defeat at home to the Dublin Lions last Saturday but with four games remaining in the regular season, captain Mark Greene is still confident that his team will hold on to their playoff berth.

The Lakers, who are currently two wins clear of third place IT Carlow, had just seven players in uniform for the visit of the Lions and speaking to the Killarney Advertiser this week, Greene said that staying injury-free from here on out would be crucial.

“If we can keep everybody fit, I’d be optimistic of making the playoffs. But we can’t afford to lose anyone else. The difference in missing even one player is huge. I think everyone played 30 plus minutes the last night, which is a bit wild. We need the bodies.

“Starting the game with seven players is never great, especially with one or two of us carrying knocks. Some of us wouldn’t have played as many minutes if we had a full squad.

“Cian Clernon was out injured but after that, that’s pretty much what we’re down to at the moment. Guys have work commitments and the size of the squad has been steadily dwindling since those opening weeks of the season. We started with 12 or 15 names on the panel.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve lost players when we’re knocking on the door (in the league). Shane McCarthy was travelling up and down to Cork. He started a new job there so that’s what ruled him out. Philip O’Connor opened up the Escape Room and he’s working every evening. It’s hard for him to commit in his first year of business. And Pádraig Lucey (who is playing football with Legion) is another huge loss.”

The skipper was also critical of his team’s defensive efforts on the night, particularly when it came to corralling defensive rebounds. Incredibly, the hosts allowed six offensive rebounds in the opening three-and-a-half minutes of the game.

“They were hitting a lot of tough shots but we didn’t clear our boards either so they were getting far too many second chance opportunities,” Greene said. “You can’t be giving teams easy buckets at this level.”

Next up for Cormac O’Donoghue’s side is a daunting away tie against Northern Conference leaders DBS Éanna. The Dubliners have a perfect 19-0 record and the Lakers will certainly have to be at their best to get a result.

The Killarney club will round off their season with games against three of the top five teams in the north so their run-in could scarcely be tougher, but Greene is staying positive.

“The Éanna game is going to be a tough one but Carlow have to play them as well. We have Sligo after that and they’re on a good run and then we have KUBS who won’t be any pushovers either. It is a tough run-in no doubt but if we’re going to make the playoffs, you don’t want to be blowing teams out by 20 or 30, getting no challenge and then suddenly you’re facing into a dogfight against a top team. It’s going to be tough semi-final if we get there, and a tough final.

"If we do clinch second spot and make the playoffs, this tough run-in will stand to us.”

Pic: Eamonn Keogh.