Price confident of replacing Singleton
Tigers, too, suffered a setback this week when Antoine Gillespie parted company with the club and returned to France despite the collapse of his bid to sign for a French club.
Coach Russ Bradburd had expected to have Gillespie until the end of the month and his plans for the weekend were further complicated by an injury to Alan Keane.
But Tigers are at their most dangerous when wounded and the newly crowned cup champions will be treading the boards carefully.
"It has been some week for us. We have experienced sport at its finest the ups and downs of it," Price said.
"It is time to refocus and get back to the business at hand. We have a lot of big games ahead of us Neptune at home, Star at home, Notre Dame at home and Killester at home.
"The loss to St Vincent's dampened our chances of the double and we are probably going to need a favour or two along the way. That is why it is important that we take care of our own business. We have a lot to play for in Tralee. I would regard it as a very important game.
"The departure of James (Singleton) was a huge blow to us and it looks as if we are going to be without our captain, Brian Clernon, for a few weeks after picking up an injury.
"I am confident we will have a replacement in time for the game in Tralee as we have a number of options here, in Europe and in the US. But no matter who we bring in, every member of the team has to step up a notch."
Neptune return to action tomorrow night with a home game against Notre Dame, who also suffered a loss this week when LaVerne Evans left the club for a position in Portugal.
He cannot be replaced as he is playing under his European passport and their troubles were compounded when Brandon Hughes broke a knuckle against Demons last Saturday. He will be out of action for the remainder of the season but they expect to fly in a point guard for the weekend.
It will be Neptune's first game since the unexpected death of one their finest young stars, Emmet Neville, and they will probably dedicate this game to him. It is also vital from the point of view of their SuperLeague aspirations as they have their sights on what would be an 11th title.
"As you would expect, morale has been very low at the club," coach Martin Aherne said. "And we face a pretty tough assignment against Notre Dame. We should have a full squad but there is a doubt about Kenny (Gamble). He did not train on account of 'flu on Monday night and then, when he returned last night, he went over on an ankle and, to be honest, it looked bad enough. He is having it checked out today and we are hoping that he will be available.
"We cannot be depending on other teams to do us favours. We must attend to our own business and that means winning our home games."
Like Notre Dame, Sx3 Star are hoping relying totally on the SuperLeague for silverware and, after their devastating loss to Demons in the Cup final, they face a huge assignment at the weekend with back to back games against St Vincent's tonight and Waterford Crystal tomorrow night.
Coach Danny Fulton said it would be difficult to refocus the team after their shattering loss in the cup final.
The women's Superleague title can be wrapped up in the next two weekends. A victory over Drimnagh this weekend, will send University of Limerick into a rematch with Bausch & Lomb Wildcats a week later with the double in their grasp.
