AS far as the race for promotion in Division Three goes, Antrim find themselves firmly excluded as they make the trip to Ennis to face Clare on Saturday (3.30pm).

The Banner are right in the mix as they sit two points adrift of joint-leaders Down and Westmeath but this journey for the Saffrons is about much more than raining on a St Patrick’s weekend parade.

Two wins from two to open their campaign gave Andy McEntee’s charges hope they would be pushing at the top end of the table, but three defeats since now leave them nervously looking over their shoulder as they can still find themselves dragged into a relegation battle in the final round of games.

Those fears can be averted by claiming at least a draw this weekend that would be a solid result on the road to one of the division’s to sides and one that was playing in the second tier last year.

Antrim could and probably should have found themselves in a better position this week but they missed their opportunities against Westmeath a fortnight ago and were made to pay.

“We need another point and that’s all there is to it,” said McEntee after that frustrating loss.

“We were very much aware of that going into the (Westmeath) game. It’s not ideal.”

With the top two in the division set to meet in Mullingar on Sunday, Clare could possibly see themselves in one of those promotion slots ahead of their final game against Down.

Therefore, they will be mindful that keeping pace this week is vital to their aspirations of making an immediate return to Division Two.

But then Antrim also have their own ambitions this week as a result on the road will ease the pressure when they host Wicklow next week in a game that could possibly turn into a relegation shootout depending on this week’s results.

In terms of personnel, Antrim have been extremely unfortunate with injuries this year with a host of regulars forced to watch on from the sideline.

Paddy McAleer was the latest to drop out ahead of the Westmeath defeat with an ankle injury and although one or two are starting to return including Eoghan McCabe, McEntee is not using the absentees as an excuse for their run of defeats.

“It’s getting a little bit shorter but not by much,” he reported.

“Other teams have injuries too, so you just have to get on with it.”