If things had been different, PHC Zebras would be staring relegation in the face this weekend.

Second from bottom and with only three league wins all season, PHC could have been facing fellow strugglers Devonshire Colts tomorrow relying on Southampton Rangers to slip up against Hamilton Parish.

As it is the changes to the league structure mean PHC have been spared, and Colts will face a two-legged play-off against the side that finishes third in the First Division.

It is a huge fall for a side that were being crowned Premier Division champions this time last year, however defender Kevin Richards insists that his team would not have been in this position had their been something to play for.

"The change in the league structure was something that had to happen for the development of the sport in Bermuda," said Richards.

"The way things are, we would have been in a relegation fight but you must remember that football is as much a mental sport as it is physical; meaning that once we were out of contention for winning the league, and the announcement came that only one team was going down our focus changed dramatically.

"In Bermuda football, that has more of an impact than in other places because this is not a full-time job for players and much of the impetus people have for training hard and playing to their highest standard is with the hope of winning trophies or not getting relegated.

"Because there was no chance we were going to do either the results over the last month haven't been as important, so I do not think this argument holds as we knew we wouldn't be going down months ago."

Richards, along with Johnny Ball, won't be gearing up for Zebras next year with both set to return to university in September.

With the loss of key members such as these two being important to the psychology of the side along with the ageing of some of their players, there could be a problem of finding another special recipe for the club like the one that saw them win three trophies last year.

However, Richards was quick to note that throughout the season, coach Kyle Lightbourne has been blooding youngsters looking towards the future and longevity of such a prestigious club.

"We have been able to blood some youngsters this year and that experience should hold them in good stead next season.

"In terms of players getting older, watching Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs this season I wouldn't say that experience is necessarily a bad thing, although Devonshire Cougars have won the league this year with a relatively youthful looking side."

Tomorrow's game isn't the end of Zebras' season, with a Friendship Trophy final against Southampton Rangers to come. And Richards believes that ending a season with one trophy is the least his side deserves.

"I personally think we deserved much more this year, but for some reason couldn't pull out the results we needed to stay in contention for the league despite what I thought were good performances.

"At this point we can only focus on winning our remaining games and hopefully we will be able to bring some silverware back to Warwick."