Institute have found their form at the right time, as they prepare to extend their unbeaten run to four on Saturday.

It won’t be easy however as they face a Warrenpoint Town team one point away from the league title, with the Newry men the last to inflict defeat on Kevin Deery’s team.

As a matter of fact, the Drumahoe side have failed to pick up anything against Matthew Tipton’s Town this year, having lost three games from three on narrow one goal margins.

Stephen O’Donnell is in line to make his return to the side after missing last week’s win over Dergview through suspension.

With five games to go, ‘Stute look odds on favourites to secure a top three spot that would see them into a play-off game for potential promotion.

That 5-1 demolition of Dergview has set them up perfectly to maintain their fight, and Deery was pleased with his side’s performance against a tough opponent.

“It was pleasing that in the second half we took our chances and we showed the quality that myself and the staff see in training every week,” the manager told the Derry News.

“We’ve been scoring plenty of goals in the last few games and its good to keep building on that return.

“At this stage of the season you want to try and keep getting results and moving forward. All we can do is worry about ourselves and let other teams take care of their own business elsewhere, and we did that against Dergview,” he added.

Mathematically ‘Stute are the only team that can now catch Warrenpoint at the top – though it would require the leaders to lose every one of their five remaining games. The Town only need one more point from those fixtures to secure promotion, but the ‘Stute boss said that he fully expects the league leaders to be on the top of their game.

“I’m sure they will be calling for the whole town to come out and support them. They’ll definitely be emphasising the importance of getting a win but we have to be strong against that,” Deery insisted.

“We want to compete with every team and you’ll not find better in the league than Warrenpoint. There is no doubt that they will win the title but with Ballyclare and PSNI facing one another we have a great opportunity.”

He continued: “A win would either take us further away from PSNI or above Ballyclare depending on how that result goes so we have to use that as a motivation.”

Indeed PSNI’s 2-0 defeat to Loughgall on Saturday has now put six points between themselves and the Drumahoe side, but Deery is not taking anything for granted and he knows that his team must keep getting results.

“There isn’t enough of a gap there for us to start getting comfortable, especially considering we still have to play them twice,” the manager explained.

“We can’t afford to take any game for granted. We had a disappointing defeat when we faced them on their patch and we know that they will believe there is still a lot to play for.

“It’s a really exciting time having a game every Saturday and coming into the warm weather, and we have to build on all of that,” he added.

It is now four games unbeaten for ‘Stute and having scored eleven goals in their last three, the manager is keen to keep the momentum going.

“In recent times if we have slipped up we have been able to counteract is immediately. I think two straight losses has been our worst record,” Deery recalled.

“We can fight our way out of it because we know that that is football but we are fully focused on getting another three points this weekend and keeping our unbeaten run going.”

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