Cornish Pirates will not let their season 'peter out', says coach Alan Paver

Cornish Pirates' loss to Ampthill was their third defeat in four games

Cornish Pirates coach Alan Paver says he will not let his side's season "peter out" after seeing their play-off hopes all but end.

The Pirates' loss to Ampthill was their third defeat of the season, leaving them nine points off leaders Ealing.

"I'm just disappointed that we're not heading towards a play-off," Paver told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"I felt we were capable of it, and I felt like we'd come through such adversity to get to this point."

He added: "Now it is a case of we're not just going to allow this just to peter out into nothing, we've got to at least bring something to the party for the last three games.

"We need a big finish. We need to crack on and get this season finished."

While mathematically the Pirates can still make the top two, it would require two of the top three teams to lose two more games and the Cornish side to win their remaining matches with bonus points.

Leaders Ealing had won every match with a bonus-point until they were halted by a star-studded Saracens side on Sunday, a team which were handed a surprise opening day loss by the Pirates early last month.

The Pirates have also been dogged by serious injuries to their backs, with Callum Patterson, Nicolas De Battista and Maliq Holden all suffering serious injuries along with problems for the likes of Shae Tucker and AJ Cant.

"We've been extremely lucky over the last few years that we haven't really sustained heavy amounts of injuries in any one position," joint-head coach Paver added.

"You get your 20% of injuries out for the season, but normally it's dotted around, but for us it's all happened in similar positions so it's caused us a bit of a headache, so we've had to re-jig things around.

"But that said, genuinely we've got a strong side going out. The back line is exciting and it's talented and the forward pack is strong and it's robust."