Whites aiming to steer clear of dreaded drop

The Whites are currently two points ahead of second from bottom side Queen’s, but they have played a game more than the Students.

Nevertheless McIlwaine is hoping his side can end their recent poor form.

“I think what has made things more difficult for us is that obviously we have been on that really, really poor run of results, but other teams in and around us have hit a bit of form,” he stated.

“It’s looking really, really tight at the bottom and we are looking like one of the teams who are in a bit of a mess, but we have to take responsibility for that.

“Results went against us on Tuesday night and everyone seems to be picking up points except for us at the minute.
“So we have to turn it around really quickly.

“Going to Moyola on Saturday is a must win game for us.

“We have two games before the split and we need to be getting maximum points from them to try and give ourselves a bit of breathing space.”

With seven games remaining, McIlwaine feels his players will stick together.

“I spoke to the boys at the weekend and told them that we need to take full responsibility for what has happened these past six games,” he added. “We are low in confidence and we’re on a bad run, but I told the boys that we need to stick together and make sure we don’t go hiding.

“We had a good turn out at training on Tuesday night and the boys are all up for this fight.”