THEY might be badly out of form, but the Sydney Swans can still cause problems come finals time, says co-captain Brett Kirk.

The Swans lost to Collingwood for the sixth consecutive time on Saturday night, but are guaranteed a finals place thanks to Carlton’s comeback win over the Brisbane Lions, who the Swans meet in round 22.

“We have been there before and if we can get some confidence back and get back to some form that we showed early in the season, then anything is possible,” Kirk said on Sunday.

While Kirk said admitted the players are frustrated, he said they would use the Lions game to refocus ahead of a probable elimination final.

“I think people are disappointed,” he said.

“We know where we are at and we have one game to go against Brisbane and the opportunity to be involved in finals. That’s because we played some good footy early. We are not playing like we want to now, but we will keep fighting.”

The 31-year-old midfielder was at loss to explain the team’s continual slow starts to matches. The last time the Swans were in front at half time was in round 13 against bottom-placed Melbourne.

“I don’t have any answers there,” he said. “I guess our players mentally prepare themselves for the game and we are getting jumped, which doesn’t help because you have to fight yourself back for the rest of the game.

“It is disappointing early that we were able to be blown out the water last night. The reality is that as a team we know where we are at but there is still opportunity there. We just have to grit our teeth and keep fighting. We have to look at attacking the situation.”

The Swans are in unfamiliar territory, having finished the season strongly in recent years. With two wins from their past eight matches, they would welcome the return of key forwards Michael O’Loughlin and Henry Playfair next week for the battle against the Lions.