In something akin to the dance of the desperates, Waitakere United and YoungHeart Manawatu will be keen for some early Easter joy when they line up for their last ASB Premiership regular season game tomorrow.
Scraping the bottom of the barrel has been given a whole new meaning with coach Neil Emblen having to name himself as one of the bench players - something he has resisted this season - following a horror run of suspensions, injuries and transfers which has left him struggling to fill out the team sheet.
Ross McKenzie, Chris Bale and Matt Cunneen are serving one-match suspensions, Roy Krishna (hamstring) and back-up goalkeeper Matt Upton (concussion sustained at Tuesday training) are injured while Gagame Feni, Steven Holloway and Andy Bevin have departed which leaves Emblen with a bare squad and no back-up goalkeeper.
He must also turn around what has been a miserable league season. Their premiership hopes hang by a thread and their chance of a crack at the O-League is to be decided on April 15 when Ba play Tefana at Bill McKinlay Park, in the flood-disrupted affair.
For Manawatu coach Stu Jacobs there are other concerns like losses by 4-0, 6-1 and 7-2 in the last three encounters with Waitakere. Jacobs must also make do without suspended striker Seule Soromon, aware that unless they claim all three points they will be the first Premiership team to end a season without a win.
