A DEPLETED Redlands City Devils side need to regain some belief and confidence in themselves as they take on Bundaberg Spirit at Devils' home grounds at Cleveland this Saturday at 7pm.
The Devils, sitting in fourth place on the table, have already secured their finals place and will not be taking the Bundaberg outfit lightly, with injuries starting to take a toll.
Devils have a nervous wait to see if midfielders Matt Seib and Danny Gardner are able to recover from injuries picked up during Sunday's game against Brisbane Strikers at Perry Park, which Devils lost 3-nil.
Two goals from Gareth Musson and one from Russell Woodruffe were enough to sink any hopes the Devils had of a third place finish in the QSL comp (and home final).
Although the Devils were a goal down after thirteen minutes through a powerful header from Woodruffe, the game was a midfield battle and the Devils battled hard until the unfortunate injury to Matt Seib saw him carried from the field.
Gareth Musson scored his first when he got in ahead of keeper Matt Ham to head in and his second came from a classic counter that saw Stuart McLaren superbly roll in Musson, who slid the ball first time under the body of the advancing Ham in Redlands goal.
To compound Redlands' disappointment they had to play out the final 10 minutes with only 10 men when Danny Gardner had to limp off with a groin injury and with no fit substitutes left on the bench.
The visitors' moments in the game were few and far between with the highlights being a fine angled shot from Andy Barton that came off Anthony Hall's far post and across the goal line to safety and a long range effort from Josh Filewood that was well struck but straight at Hall.
The Redlands Toscanis Restaurant Man of the Match was awarded to Josh Filewood.
"I know all sides go through the losing players, injuries and suspensions thing and it is part and parcel of the game, but it really seems to have rocked us,"Devils assistant coach Dave Thorogood said.
"Regardless of the sides we put out against either Bundaberg this Saturday or the sudden death playoff, we have got to try and regain some belief and confidence, because at the moment we are playing with little of either .
"We do have a good bunch of honest hardworking lads here and I hope for them we can lift."
The Harvey Norman Redlands 1st Division side had a week of mixed results.
Last Tuesday the Red Devils beat competition heavyweights Beenleigh 3-1 with quality goals to Tau Winnie and Graeme Ledwith and some superb goal keeping from Tony White.
On Saturday, despite creating opportunities a Cameron Hunt goal was not enough on the night with the visitors inflicting a 2-1 defeat on the hapless Devils.
The young Div 1 side is ready for the task ahead and keenly awaits tomorrow night's clash at the Grange.
The Alexandra Hills Hotel Redlands Player of the Match was awarded to Cameron Hunt.
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