LAKE Albert coach Mitch Tinnock concedes the time is now for the Sharks to step up if they want to be part of the Pascoe Cup finals action.
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Last year's grand finalists have made a slow start to the new season, winning just one of their opening four games to find themselves in seventh position on the ladder.
The Sharks have not been too far away since starting the season with a 2-0 win over Tumut.
They were held to a 0-0 draw against Wagga United last week, pressed strongly in a 2-1 loss to Hanwood and were well-beaten 5-2 by ladder leaders Henwood Park.
While Lake Albert concedes it is a rebuilding season for the club, Tinnock says they still want to be part of the finals action.
"We've still got aspirations," Tinnock said.
"I think it's still fairly tight there with a few teams and anything can happen because it's a pretty even league. Pretty much any team can beat anyone except probably for South Wagga. Even Tumut is pretty decent.
"Anything can happen. If we can get a couple of wins in a row then we can still definitely make finals. That's the way we're looking it. If that's not the case, so be it, we've still blooded a fair few younger players this year with one eye on the future as well."
Lake Albert face fourth-placed Young at Rawlings Park on Sunday. The Lions have started the year strongly and managed a draw against Hanwood in Griffith last Sunday.
Tinnock knows Lake Albert need to make their move soon if they are to remain in the title hunt.
"Definitely. We haven't had too many great results the last few weeks so we need to get a win on the board to get things moving again," he said.
"A couple of our better players aren't playing and a couple pulled out with the COVID stuff so that's obviously been a factor, but having said that we've still got good enough players and we haven't been too far off."
Tinnock acknowledged the Sharks' weakness has been in attack.
"I think a little bit of polish is going amiss at the moment. The teamwork, I think we're still building the connections with the new players and probably up front we don't really have a recognised striker," he said.
"We've been trialling a few different options up there, some to a bit of a success, some to not as much success but that's pretty much all we can do at this point because we don't really have that main man up there.
"We've still got a pretty solid defence and midfield, to get into games, it's probably that little bit of polish going forward is what's let us down.
"Probably some of the passing coming out of the backline has been a little bit dodgy at times too, but that's just being a bit calmer on the ball, people panicking a little bit and when they panic, everyone else starts panicking and it's a chain effect.
"So we've just got to go back to basics, backing our skills a bit more."
Tinnock expects a fierce battle against Young.
"It will be a dog fight. It will be a fierce battle, it's always a really tough game against them," he said.
"They'll run you off your feet, so we've got to make sure we keep up with that and we'll try a few little things in the forward line this week and we'll see how we go."
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