IT’S now or never for Radcliffe Borough, according physio Ronnie Evans, as they prepare for a crunch clash at Wakefield on Saturday.

The Stainton Park outfit are second bottom in the Evo-Stik Division One North table but could move out of the relegation places with a win at their Yorkshire rivals.

“There is no other way of looking at it,” said Evans.

“Already, so early in the season, you have to say we are in a relegation battle and this is a six-pointer.”

Wakefield are one place above Boro in the table and a point better off, but have played two games more.

That fact may soften the blow if Radcliffe fail to pick up the three points demanded by Evans, but the physio has warned the Boro players to start taking their plight more seriously.

“There can be no excuses,” he added.

“We really need to go to places like Wakefield and the other teams around us and get a result.

“There has been this feeling around the club that things will be okay – that we will start picking up results and get out of this.

“But we have been in the bottom two pretty much all season and the longer you are down there the more difficult things seem to get.

“Like everybody else, I am confident we can get out of this, but only if we start picking up results against the teams around us, starting on Saturday.”

Boro go into the game without a win in their last four matches.

That includes two successive home defeats – 2-0 against Evo-Stik Premier high-flyers Skelmersdale United in the Doodson Cup on Tuesday and 2-1 to First Division North leaders Warrington Town on Saturday.

Boro looked to have been heading for at least a point against Warrington before Ashley Ruane cancelled out Bradley Robinson’s equaliser with a stoppage-time winner for the visitors.

“We actually played really well in both games, but were just undone by little mistakes,” said Evans.

“We deserved something from the Warrington match, especially.

“Conceding so late on was really hard to take – the players had put in such a big effort.

“But we are really low on numbers and desperately need to fill both full-back positions.”

Evans confirmed that the only two full-backs at the club – Danny Lambert and Sam Grimshaw – would be out injured until the new year.

Boro have been further hamstrung by the recent departures of Caldon Henson and Darren Thornton.

Evans said: “Caldon may have been a striker, but he had been doing a job for us at right-back, while Darren leaving meant we had to move James Mullineux to right-back for the last two games, which has obviously left us short at centre-back.”