Swifts players left speechless by loss of form — as they face up to Crues

Supreme test: Kris Lowe hopes to lift his struggling side

DUNGANNON Swifts midfielder Kris Lowe has spoken of the toll that the club’s dire run is taking on the players’ personal lives.

The Swifts are in wretched form and have lost their last eight games.

Today they face another real test against Crusaders, on the back of last weekend’s 6-1 loss at Glentoran.

Lowe (23) said: “It hasn’t been good at all. We’ve just been lost for words the last couple of weeks. We have said it all, hoped it would change and it hasn’t.

“We are getting battered, and are leaking too many goals and struggling to score. All we can do is hope to turn it around.”

Lowe admits player confidence has been affected by the run and the manner of defeats, some of them by four, five and now six goals.

“It is bad for morale but we are all in it together, trying to keep the morale up,” he added.

“Obviously getting beaten every week is difficult, we like to think we have a life outside of football but it takes its toll on a personal level.

“But it’s something you go through in football — these stages—andwealljusthavetostick together.”

Last October a surprise 3-2 win in this fixture gave Dungannon their first league win of the 2018/19 season and kick-started their campaign.

And Lowe believes a win this afternoon could have an equally transformative effect.

“Football is a crazy game — one game can lift you and turn your season around,” he added.

“Momentum is very important —- once you are in a rut, it is very hard to get out of, but once you get that first result, it can all change.”

Today Dungannon host a Crusaders side sitting just three points behind leaders Coleraine.

Lowe hopes they can be inspired by the challenge.

He added: “The Crues have been a force for a few years now, but it is one of those games hopefully we can rise to as a team.

“We will go in with a game plan, we have been working hard in training, and we’ll see where it takes us.”