PETERBOROUGH skipper Simon Lambert is adamant his injury-hit side can still extend their season beyond this weekend.
The T.Balfe Construction Panthers go into the second leg of their KO Cup semi-final against Scunthorpe at the East of England Arena on Saturday (7pm) facing a major 28-point deficit.
Ironically that was exactly the margin turned around by Workington in the other semi-final when they got the better of Edinburgh despite losing the first leg 59-31.
On Sunday, Panthers head back to Rye House needing to beat Lakeside by three or more points to reach the Championship Grand Final.
And Lambert, who piled up paid-17 in the first leg against the Hammers, says he’ll be doing everything possible to keep the campaign going.
He said: “We’re underdogs in both meetings, but we’ve been underdogs all season and come out the other side.
“We were written off at the start of the year but we finished top of the league, and that isn’t luck, that’s merit.
“Obviously Saturday is going to be a massive uphill battle, but it’s not over until it’s over.
“And we’ve been to Rye House before and won, so we’ve got to go there on Sunday in the right frame of mind.
“We’re two points down so that’s basically a straight 15 heat shoot-out and anything is possible.
“It’s been so hard with the injuries but the guests, myself, everyone, have all just got to wear their hearts on their sleeves and go out and give it their all.
“To be honest we won’t be expected to beat Scunthorpe overall, but we want to go out there and win the meeting to give the fans something, and to give us a boost for Sunday.
“Quite genuinely we can go to Rye House and do it, there’s no reason why not, and then go on and win the title.
“There’s not one person in the stadium if it was a sell-out who would be prouder to lift the trophy than me, and it can still happen.”
Panthers are now without four of their regulars with Michael Palm Toft having joined the injury list this week.
On Saturday they bring in Ricky Wells for Scott Nicholls, Thomas Jorgensen for MPT and Carl Wilkinson at reserve for Tom Bacon, with rider-replacement in operation for Bradley Wilson-Dean.
Wilkinson continues at Hoddesdon on Sunday with the heat-leader guest bookings taken by former Rye House star Jason Garrity and Tero Aarnio.