The "f" word won't be uttered any time soon by Brisbane AFL coach Michael Voss - and it's not "finals".
Voss refused to speculate on his future as Lions coach despite the finals door all but slamming shut on Brisbane after Sunday's nine-point loss to Port Adelaide.
Voss' position will be reviewed at the end of the year.
In May, Voss looked like a dead man walking when newspaper reports claimed he had eight weeks to prove he was the right man for the job following their round six 60-point loss to Sydney.
Brisbane (13th; 7-10) have turned around a horror 3-8 season start with memorable wins over Essendon and Geelong.
But the weekend loss all but ensures the Lions will miss a chance to play finals footy for the first time since 2009.
If Voss was worried about his future, he hid it well as he prepared for Saturday night's Gabba clash with St Kilda.
"The next five days are the only thing I am worried about," he said.
"You can ask many different ways but my answer is going to be exactly the same.
"All I am focusing on is getting the team up for this weekend."
Technically, the Lions could stay in the finals mix if they won their last five games and other results went their way.
But Voss wouldn't entertain the idea.
"I appreciate you guys want to talk about finals but it is just not in our language," he said.
"If there's an opportunity, then so be it.
"At the start of the year, one of our goals was to make it hard for the opposition to win here - we want to finish our last three (home) games strong.
"If we think about anything else, we are in trouble."
Voss also ruled out blooding youngsters with a view towards the 2014 season.
"You can look at the next five weeks and think we are planning for this and planning for that - but we've been planning all year," he said.
"It doesn't change.
"We will play young players where they are needed to be played.
"I am happy with how our plans are unfolding."
Meanwhile, Simon Black (groin) is at least another week away from returning.
"He hasn't trained for a month so it's hard to think he'll get up," Voss said of Black who has been sidelined for a month.
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