THE few seasoned women’s Premier League Hockey veterans St Pat’s have left in their side are not familiar with being in the lower reaches of the table – a position they find themselves in after eight rounds of the 2015 competition.

But some short term pain will be worth it according to Saints captain Kirralee Naylor as she prepares to lead her side into battle against Confederates this afternoon in Orange.

There is still a lot of hockey to be played this season, but a loss for either side will severly hurt their chances of making the semi-finals. It is not a position Pat’s are used to.

A loss will see them fall 12 points behind the current battle for fifth between Souths and Ex-Services provided either of those teams win today. With Souths playing Lithgow Zig Zag, it is a major possibility.

That sort of margin would be almost too great to overhaul, especially given Pat’s inferior goal difference.

Still, it isn’t something that Naylor is allowing to weigh her down and after showing some good signs against Bathurst City last weekend in a 4-2 defeat, she is still in a positive mood.

“It isn’t really a normal circumstance for some of us older players to be this far out of the top five, but we’ve lost a lot of experience and the good thing is we’ve gained so much young talent with a heap of potential,” she said.

“It isn’t a case of being disappointed with where we are at all, we know that we are only going to get better as we play more together.

“We haven’t given up hope either. We know we’re a bit off the pace, but we can still improve our position. With each game we get stronger, we combine better and the girls get more comfortable at this level.”

Confederates themselves are still a work in progress, having won only twice since their return to the competition in 2013. However, they do look to have improved so far this year with a tighter defence.

Naylor has not seen them in action so far and doesn’t know what to expect, but said that the effort her team displayed against City would be enough to earn them a good result.

“The scoreline wasn’t representative of the game, we took it up to them I thought and we got the rewards at the back end of the game with a couple of good goals,” she said.

“If we can take that sort of momentum into this week, it will go a long way towards earning us another win.

“We don’t have Brigette Evans this week which is a blow, but after seeing how the young girls stepped up last Saturday I have no doubt they can do it again.”

The one major concern for Pat’s aside from Evans is that of goalkeeper Karen Fieldus. 

The Australian Country representative was hit in the face by a stray ball after last weekend’s match and lost four teeth. Her availability for today is still an unknown.

Pat’s play Confederates at 1.10pm this afternoon in Orange.