Bring Composition widget to the base of footer on a master page?

I'm having difficulties getting the composition widget to meet flush with the bottom of the footer on a master page. I have the footer check box ticked for the widget and all looks okay in the design window. But once I publish or preview the site the composition is pushed above the other elements on the footer.

< design window

< preview window

Can anyone shed some light on why Muse is doing this and any way to possibly fix it so the composition sits evenly at the base of the page?

Thanks for your help!