The Super Netball semi-finals appear out of reach for the NSW Swifts but coach Briony Akle expects her side to keep battling until the very end.
The sixth-placed Swifts already faced an uphill battle to pinch a spot in the play-offs after Saturday's 57-57 draw with the Collingwood Magpies at Hisense Arena.
Those odds worsened after the Queensland Firebirds stunned top-ranked West Coast Fever 60-54 on Saturday night to consolidate their place in the top four with two round to play.
Yet Akle maintains that while there is hope, they will continue to fight.
"I think we're still there but it probably depends on what else happens with the other games," Akle said after Saturday's draw.
"We will train and play like we are still there so it doesn't really change what we are doing moving forward."
The Swifts face another tough battle against defending champions Sunshine Coast Lightning next week, who are also fighting for their play-off lives.
Akle sees the number of quality teams in the running for the semi-finals as a ringing endorsement for Super Netball.
"The competition is crazy," she said.
"It's a fabulous competition and you've got to put your best out each week.
"If you don't do that, you don't come out with those bonus points or the win."
The Swifts saw a three-goal lead evaporate early in the fourth quarter against the Magpies but Akle liked the way they recovered to come within seconds of a vital win.
"The good thing I'm taking away is the fact is in the past, we might have lost that game," she said.
"The positive for me moving forward as a coach is we stuck together and we can only get better and learn from every single time we are in these situations and take something out of it."
Akle also paid tribute to Magpies defender Sharni Layton after the former Australian Diamonds captain announced she will bring her decorated career to a close at the end of the season.
Layton spent three years with the Swifts, helping them reach back-to-back grand finals before making the switch to the new Collingwood franchise in 2017.
"She's done a huge service for netball," Akle said about Layton.
"She did an awesome job when she was at the Swifts and a great job for netball overall, so we wish her all the best."