The silver lining to the NPL Tasmania ladder for Riverside Olympic is the thought of how it might look in a couple of years.
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An eighth defeat in 11 matches leaves the Windsor Park outfit sitting above only Saturday's 3-1 victors Launceston City.
But in just their second campaign at statewide level, the club's captain and coach exude excitement at what the team could look like when its glut of teenagers come of age.
"It's been a positive season," said captain Taylor Neilson.
"We think we're on a two-to-three year gameplan and did not expect results straight away. We've got no egos at the club and we all feel we're moving in the right direction.
"The team we put out against Zebras recently, 10 of the 11 were under-21s and 12 of the 14 in the squad. That's massive.
"We've got some really good young players and I don't see us losing them because we pride ourselves on being a social club and a community club."
The team has been hard hit by injuries to senior players with Neilson's leg joining those of Jono O'Neill, Ethan Olner and Luca Vigilante on the treatment table.
But Neilson is confident such old heads, including the league's most experienced player Aaron Campbell, are helping to nurture a bright future.
"I believe we will be pushing for a title in three to five years," he said.
"Maybe not me, Azza or Jono but definitely guys like Gilly (Liam Gilmore), Jasper (King), Humpa (Will Humphrey), Aaron Kidmas and Jarrod Hill. They are getting the pace of the game every week and getting better."
Coach Alex Gaetani agrees and hopes Neilson will begin the return of experienced heads having made his comeback in the reserves' 2-2 draw with City.
"We might get a bit of seniority back next week," he said ahead of Saturday's twilight fixture at second-placed Glenorchy Knights.
"No one planned for all those injuries but the experiences that the young boys are having will be huge for them.
"There's no point in changing anything too dramatically because we don't want to react to things not going our way - there is no quick fix.
"We're just getting players to consistently believe in themselves and learn from their mistakes and I know they will.
"There were still a lot of positives from Saturday's game but they were a devastated bunch of boys afterwards."