ALBANY — If the Albany Firebirds want to repeat as Arena Football One champions, they’ll probably have to go on the road to do it.

The Firebirds entered Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Nashville Kats at MVP Arena with a chance to take the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage for the postseason away from Nashville. Instead, while the Firebirds came back from an early 19-point deficit to tie the game on multiple occasions in the second half, the Kats were able to scratch out a 57-54 victory to lock up the top seed.

Firebirds coach Damon Ware said that, while he was hopeful his team could turn the tables on Nashville and get the top seed, he’s satisfied with being locked into the No. 2 seed and getting two straight bye weeks for his injury-riddled team to get ready for the playoffs.

“We’ve been beat up all year,” Ware said. “We’ve had more season-ending injuries this year than we’ve had in the last five combined. … We need those two weeks off. We will get close to being healthy, and you will see our team come the semifinals.”

For the second straight week, there was no Sam Castronova in the lineup for the Firebirds, with Joshua Kulka getting the start at quarterback against a Nashville team that featured his older brother, Tyler Kulka, under center.

When asked why Castronova — who posted on social media last week about a death in his family — was inactive, Ware’s response was vague.

“I keep those things in house,” he said. “It’s not really for public consumption, but, obviously, there were things that went on. There were things that needed to happen. Ultimately, I am very, very confident in Josh. … I would have no problem starting him in any game that I coach.”

As was the case in Nashville’s 78-69 win over Albany on June 20 in Clarksville, Tenn., special teams played a crucial role. Nashville kicker Kyle Kaplan was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra points and connected on four deuces, while Albany’s Brent Reis — the team’s third different kicker this year — struggled on dropkick extra point attempts and did not record a deuce.

“We’ve changed kickers so many times,” Ware said, “and it just seems to be the same result every time. … There’s a lot of frustration with the kicking.”