Three points needed by TT

Team Taranaki could take a decent leap forward to avoiding a relegation scrap when they meet struggling Wellington Olympic in their Central League football match at Yarrow Stadium on Sunday.

The visitors find themselves in the unusual position of fighting relegation with a clutch of other teams with five games of the season left. Team Taranaki are also close to the relegation battle, just five points above bottom placed Marist Palmerston North and only four above Olympic.

‘‘All of our remaining games are situations where we want to take points and we are certainly not taking anything for granted – another win could give us the breathing space that we need and when you are playing teams around you they become even more significant,’’ Taranaki coach Ian McGrath said.

While Olympic’s position is more perilous, and they have struggled to get results after they won the league last season, they have been more than competitive, only losing badly against Lower Hutt last weekend.

‘‘Most of their results have been close and when you look at their squad list, they are certainly not a relegation team on paper,’’ McGrath added. ‘‘But we sense that there is an opportunity this weekend to take advantage of their situation and in doing so boost our chances of pulling away from the other three teams at the bottom of the league.

Team Taranaki has already enjoyed a 2-1 win against them away from home, although that was hard earned, according to the coach. ‘‘We are certainly looking to capitalise on the four home games we have in the last five fixtures.’’