Newry City are still alive in survival fight, but a win against Loughgall is vital: Barry Gray

Barry Gray’s side are six points adrift at the bottom

Newry City boss Barry Gray admits time is rapidly running out, but says that if his boys could pocket three points from Tuesday night’s game against Loughgall, it would breathe new life into their survival bid.

The border club are marooned at the bottom of the Sports Direct Premiership table, having banked merely 13 points from their 27 starts ahead of their trip to Lakeview Park.

With only 11 games remaining, the odds are heavily stacked against Gray’s team remaining in the top-flight.

They had the chance to cut the deficit on Friday night but could only manage a home draw with an equally struggling Ballymena United.

“There is no question, everyone inside the dressing room and outside the dressing room wanted the win and, to be honest, I thought we could have got the win,” said Gray of their weekend stalemate.

“It wasn’t through lack of effort or anything like that. It was a game we hoped it wouldn’t be, both teams were edgy. Both teams didn’t want to lose; they were not giving anything away.

“Neither team was giving anything away, so we were waiting for someone to crack the nut first and, unfortunately for us, it was Ballymena. We huffed and puffed a wee bit towards the end.

“It was a massively important game for both teams, you could see that how the game panned out.

“The reality of it is six points is a two-game swing. Loughgall is now our game in hand and, if we can do the business and get a win — and we know how difficult that can be — it would be massive.

“The split is still a few games away, so if we could manage to reduce the deficit to three, it would be job done this week.

“I know it’s all ifs, buts and maybes, we’ll have to see what the Loughgall match