Parity could be Ottawa Fury FC's best friend with four games remaining in the NASL's spring season.

It's definitely the only reason talk of a top-four spring finish isn't out of reach a game past the midpoint of the season.

Coming off a scoreless draw Saturday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies, Fury is heading into a pivotal stretch of training with next weekend off before back-to-back home games.

If Fury has any shot of meeting its objective of finishing in the top third of the table and move towards a playoff spot, they'll need to win both home dates, against Edmonton and Fort Lauderdale.

Amazingly, more than halfway through the spring season, only five points separates Fury in 10th place and Tampa Bay in 3rd. Four of the teams between them -- Edmonton, Minnesota, Indy and Fort Lauderdale -- have a game in hand, so the picture will become a little clearer after next weekend's action with Fury off.

What's already clear, however, is Fury needs wins in its two remaining home games and then at least single points in the following two on the road.

Ottawa has three league losses to its name this season and they need to halt that number there, which is doable but not easy, especially if they can't fix their scoring woes.

"Fort Lauderdale, last season they were 10 games without winning but they tied a lot of them and they were in the final of the league," Fury coach Marc Dos Santos said. "In this league, it's very important not to lose."

That's why there wasn't much frustration from Dos Santos after Saturday's draw, other than once again wondering what it's going to take for his team to see a handball called against an opponent. The point was still a big one against a good team. They also did it without forwards Tommy Heinemann and Oliver, not to mention captain Richie Ryan.

Dos Santos has repeated he's not worried about the lack of goals, despite getting blanked in two-straight games, albeit against the league's top two teams heading into the weekend.

"I believe a lot in the guys we have," he said. "For sure we need to see other kinds of (offensive) options there. (Players) have to feel that we need to be better."

Dos Santos said the club has to build on what it's doing right.

"As a unit, we're defending well and we're getting forward, we're able to get in the last third," he said.

Now they just need to put the ball in the net.

Shooting not the problem

When it was pointed out to him following Saturday's game fans were repeatedly yelling at Fury to shoot more, Dos Santos was quick to point out shooting isn't exactly the problem for the snakebitten Fury.

While Ottawa hasn't scored in back-to-back games and has yet to do it more than once in a game this season, they came into Saturday's game leading the NASL in shots. After Sunday's Cosmos game, only New York has more than Ottawa's 45 shots this season.

"If they're yelling 'shoot shoot' at the Ottawa Fury, imagine if it was another team," Dos Santos said, though he acknowledged there were some missed opportunities.

Chief among them was a great chance by midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who burst into the Rowdies box but took one touch too many, allowing keeper Matt Pickens to snap up the ball.

"I agree there's some actions that we have to release faster," he said. "(Ubiparipovic) has a very good (chance) in the second half that he tries to dribble past people ... if he decides to take the option of shooting one-touch, maybe."

Rave reviews for back line

Despite being forced to shuffle his back four before and during Saturday's game, Dos Santos was pleased with the results.

Defender Mason Trafford, usually a centre back, had a strong game at left back, while Drew Beckie, who played centre back most of last year but has been used mostly in the midfield this season, moved back into his natural spot. Beckie moved back after Rafael Alves was injured in the first half and had to leave the game.

"The last 180 minutes I think, defensively, we showed that we're solid even with some moves that had to me made," he said. "Mason had a very good defensive game as a left back, Beckie was dropped to centre back and he was fantastic, he was an animal in that position. (Ryan) Richter was an animal (and) the midfield worked very hard."

Colin Falvey has been a solid addition at centre back and brings a key physical edge.

Twitter: @chrishofley