BY MATTHEW WILSON

FINN Harps captain Tony McNamee is hoping that the side can finish the season strongly as they prepare for a trip to league leaders Dundalk FC this Friday night.

A run of four league matches without a win has seen Finn Harps’ play-off chances diminish in recent weeks.

Kevin McHugh’s outfit were positioned just one-point away from fifth place Treaty United when Finn Harps sealed a 1-0 home win over the Limerick based side at the end of August.

However, a draw with Longford Town followed by three successive defeats to Bray Wanderers, Wexford FC and Cobh Ramblers sees them seven points adrift with three league games remaining.

Set-pieces and crosses have caused the Finn Park residents issues in recent outings and it was a similar case last time out when they suffered a 4-1 loss to Cobh Ramblers.

“Whatever about the defeat, I think the most disappointing part of it was the concession of the goals. We looked at it leading up to the game and what their threats are.”

“We pinpointed (Barry) Coffey making runs to the back post and (Cian) Bargery’s crosses from the right hand side and I think two if not three of the goals came from there”, said McNamee.

He continued, “All in all, I think in the last few games crosses and set-pieces have been our downfall. Performance wise we’ve been relatively okay, I don’t think there’s been much in any of the games but you can’t defend the way we’ve defended from set-pieces and expect to win games either.”

Finn Harps’ dip in form hasn’t been helped by some suspensions and injuries in recent weeks as well as the unavailability of the talented trio who earned themselves a call up to Colin O’Brien’s Ireland Under-17 squad.

Although the Finn Harps skipper is refusing to use this as an excuse, expressing that the squad depth available should allow them to deal with these situations.

“We’re lucky enough in a sense to say that we have international players playing for us but we should be well capable of producing results without them. “

“We shouldn’t have to rely on every player being fit for every game of the season, that’s what the squad is there for. Ultimately in the last three or four weeks, we haven’t been able to get a win to cap off a week.”

Next up on the agenda for Kevin McHugh and his side is a trip to Oriel Park this Friday night to face league leaders Dundalk FC.

It’s a big test for the Finn Park residents, with Ciaran Kilduff’s group requiring just one more win to secure the First Division title and promotion back to the Premier Division following their relegation last season.

However, the Twin Towns club have competed well against the Lilywhites this year.

A Gradi Lomboto spot-kick sealed the three points for Finn Harps in their pairs last meeting at Finn Park while Aaron McLaughlin earned the side a share of the spoils in their previous visit to the Wee County.

McNamee understands the difficulty of the task that lies ahead for himself and his side this Friday night but insists that they need to try and finish out the campaign as strongly as they possibly can.

“You have to go to every game and try to win them. We drew down there before and we won the last game against them at home. We know how big a task it’s going to be. If they win one more game then they win the league, let’s hope it’s not Friday night.”

“Injury wise, there are probably a few still having niggles and we might have one or two suspended but again, it’s what the squad is there for.”

“If nothing else boys could be playing for a contract or anything. We need to be looking at finishing the season as strongly as we can but other players have to look at it in a sense of maybe winning a contract or putting a thought into Kevin’s head for next year.”

Sitting seven points adrift of Treaty United with a possible nine left to play, the play-off chances aren’t mathematically dead in the water yet although the Navenny Street residents require a lot to go their way in the next week for it to have any hope of happening.

McNamee feels like the damage was done in the past number of outings, with a win in any of their three previous games leaving them in a much better position of landing a blow on the Limerick club.

The Milford man discussed that regardless of what happens over the course of the next week, the group must take learnings from this season to ensure it doesn’t occur again.

“Mathematically the chance isn’t gone but if we had even won one of the last three games then you are there or thereabouts, you never know what can happen.”

“Unfortunately for us, whatever about the game down in Cobh, I think the game against Wexford was a big downfall and the game in Bray. We were ahead in both of those games and we fell apart.”

“Unfortunately that’s just part and parcel of football, you have to take the ups with the downs and hopefully, whether we make the play-offs or not now, we all learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again next year.”