MAIDENHEAD RFC suffered another disastrous defeat on Saturday, as they went down 20-12 to fellow strugglers Stroud.
However, coach Simon Edwards claimed there was still room for optimism and predicted a storming end to the season, if only his side can get the rub of the green.
He said: "I'm not making excuses but we are having terrible luck.
"We lost Robin Bryant after two or three minutes on Saturday, and he'll be out for three to five weeks with a strained hamstring.
"And midway through the second half we should have had a penalty try.
"They collapsed three of our mauls and if the referee had given it I think we would have gone away from them."
But there were also plenty of positives to take home to Braywick, particularly the impact of his new signings.
Edwards said: "Jarrod Ross had an excellent debut and must have been very close to being man of the match.
"The No.8 Ray Malesala admits he hasn't played for six to eight weeks through injury and his first half performance showed that. But his second half performance was top class.
"We are beginning to play some good rugby and I genuinely believe we are very, very close to taking a side to the cleaners.
"I believe if we can get one win we will get plenty more."
However, he did admit tactical blunders had a part to play in Saturday's defeat.
He added: "We could and should have won.We played the wrong game in the first half and weren't playing the game in their territory.
“We ran from too deep and made silly mistakes which allowed them to kick penalties. In the second half we turned it around and played a very powerful forward game. We blew them off the park for 35 minutes but then conceded two very silly tries."
Tomorrow (Saturday) Maids welcome league leaders Weston-super-Mare to Braywick Park, kick-off 2.30pm.
An upbeat Edwards said: "Sometimes it's easier to beat the league leaders at home than league stragglers away.
"I believe we can beat them. We're not going onto the pitch on Saturday to give them two points. They are going to have to earn them."
There was some good news for the club this week, as the under 19s thrashed Henley Colts to reach the final 16 of the National Knockout Cup.