DESPITE his team dropping all three points at home on Sunday and remaining two places and seven points out of a Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) play-off spot, Humble Lion Head Coach Glendon “Admiral” Bailey is still hopeful that his club will extend their season beyond their last eight games of the regular season.

Speaking with reporters after his team humbly went down to defending champions Portmore United 0-2 at home, Bailey was optimistic that they would be able to climb into the top six despite being mired in eighth place on 30 points.

“We are not giving up; we will keep on fighting. Next game we will assess it and see what changes we have to make, and see how to approach it,” he pledged.

The Premier League winning coach blamed a lack of consistency for his team’s travails.

“Right now we are playing lukewarm, in terms of one minute we are hot and then the next minute we are not. The whole season we have been bawling out for consistency, and we are not getting that.

“That is one of the things that is killing us — consistency!” he lamented.

The much-travelled coach insists that talent isn’t an issue at the club, and suggests that a massive attitude change is required for Humble Lion to achieve their minimum target this season.

“I think we have a lot of talent here, but I think one of the things that is really plaguing us is that I think we are selfish as players —and if we don’t get that part of it right we will always struggle. We need to get that part of our organisation right, and if we get that part right then we will be a better team.

“As I told them, we cannot make the top six with this kind of behaviour and attitude,” Bailey said.

While happy with the results of the teams that are currently lying below them — which means that Humble Lion have not been drawn into a relegation battle — Bailey is focused on the other end of the table, as he should be.

“Hearing the other results of the teams behind us, we are still alright as far as that is concerned; but we want to catch up in the sense that we want to make the top six,” he noted

Humble Lion did quite a bit of business in the transfer window, and that is expected to help fuel its push up the tables.

“We got in some additional players and, as you noticed, I didn’t waste any time to introduce them because we introduced them in the area where we were falling short. I don’t know if it was because it was their first game, but I didn’t think they played to their full potential today — but such is it”, noted Bailey.

Reflecting on his team’s performance, Bailey thought his players proverbially shot themselves in the foot, based on the way they started the game.

“I think we started out flat for the first half. In my view [we conceded] two soft goals, [by] not paying attention to what we were supposed to be doing.

“But I thought we gave a better account of ourselves in the second half; we made a little adjustment and run at them more.

“Even in the first half I think we still got a couple chances where, if we put even one of them away, it would have made a big difference in the game. But this is one of the things that I have been complaining [about] right through the season, getting chances [and] not scoring,” Bailey bemoaned.

Humble Lion must make up seven points in eight games if they are to have a chance of making the RSPL play-offs. It will be a mammoth task and will certainly require everything in Admiral Bailey for them to get over the proverbial line.