READ MORE - SELECTION NIGHT - weekend football teams
INGLEWOOD'S one-point loss to Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in round two is having further salt rubbed into the wounds the longer the Blues go without a win in the Loddon Valley league.
Blues coach Ryan McNish says the biggest challenge he is currently facing is his playing group genuinely believing in their ability to win when they take to the field each week.
Not only are the Blues still winless this season, but they haven't won a game since their upset of Calivil United in round three last year when they finally beat the Demons for the first time since 2002.
However, a winning opportunity went begging in round two when the Blues lost to the Bears by one point and the following week a five-point half-time lead against Bridgewater turned into a 27-point loss.
Since then the Blues have lost to Newbridge, Pyramid Hill and Mitiamo by a combined 328 points, with the question now of just where will Inglewood's next win come from?
"We've been a bit depleted over the past few weeks and with that, a bit of belief can go with that as well," McNish, who has been sidelined with a quad injury for the past four games, said on Friday.
"Every week is a winnable game, but sometimes with a young group it can be hard to sustain belief and that's been a big challenge.
"The gameplan is there, but we're struggling to not only execute it, but execute the basics.
"Apart from the Pyramid Hill game, we've had just as much of the ball and inside 50s as the opposition, but we just turn it over at crucial times and that comes down to skill errors."
The Blues are coming off a 104-point loss to Mitiamo last week in what was a game where they were outscored by 103 points in the first and third quarters, but by only one point across the second and fourth terms.
The dominant first quarter from Mitiamo in which it kicked 8.3 to 0.1. continued a trend of poor first terms for Inglewood this season.
The Blues have been outscored a total of 227-40 in first quarters as they have been forced to constantly play catch-up football.
"We held Mitiamo goal-less in the last quarter, but in the first quarter they kicked seven goals in the first 10 minutes and unfortunately, when we bleed goals, we bleed right out," McNish said.
"We're trying to make sure that whatever team we're playing if they kick a couple of quick goals that we address that and don't allow them to get the momentum."
The Blues host Maiden Gully YCW on Saturday.
...........................................
* Saturday's games - Bridgewater v Mitiamo, Pyramid Hill v Calivil United, Inglewood v Maiden Gully, BL-Serpentine v Newbridge.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
