MICHAEL Clegg says his Warrington Rylands side will “fight tooth and nail” to stay in the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off spots.

However, he pointed to the strength of those around them as an indicator of how hard that task will be despite having spent most of the season in second place.

With champions-elect Radcliffe far ahead, Blues held the position of their principal challengers since late-September and when they won 3-2 on the leaders’ turf in December, there was talk of a title race starting to brew.

Since then, however, Blues have stuttered – one win in eight matches since that day has seen them overtaken by both Marine and Hyde United, while all four of the teams immediately behind them are within range by virtue of having games in hand.

With Marine not in action and Macclesfield, who brought in Warrington Town midfielder Bohan Dixon this week to boost their own bid, on FA Trophy duty, there is a chance for Rylands to give themselves more comfort this weekend as Matlock Town visit Gorsey Lane.

Whatever happens to the table, though, Clegg’s aim is a simple one.

“We just need to get a win,” he said.

“It’s no secret that we’ve fallen out of form. We’ve had injuries, suspensions and then Adama Sidibeh going – we’re not going to make excuses, but it has hurt us.

“You can’t sulk in this game – we’ve got 12 cup finals left and we need to fight tooth and nail to stay in those play-off places.

“Based on the first two-thirds of the season, we deserve to be there but football doesn’t feel sorry for anyone or stand still.

“You only have to look at Macclesfield bringing Bohan Dixon in from Warrington Town, Radcliffe are loaning out Harry Brockbank who would probably get in any team in this league.

“Teams at the top end – Worksop, Marine, Hyde, Ashton – are full of top-quality players.

“Then there’s teams like Whitby who are up there, Lancaster have won a couple of games and are now pushing.

“It’s going to be tough and it was always going to be – just because we’ve been second for so long doesn’t mean we have a divine right to stay up there.

“We’re working hard behind the scenes to bring a couple of players in because we need them now, then hopefully we can get a couple of wins and enjoy our season.”

Blues will be without defender James Butler as he starts a suspension following his sending-off during last weekend’s shock 3-2 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Bradford Park Avenue.

His fellow centre-half Matt Regan is a long-term injury doubt, while midfielder Ben Hardcastle is also set for several weeks on the sidelines.