DANNY Johnson admits the mid-week game at Northwich Victoria was a step too far for his Radcliffe Borough side.

In a bittersweet week for the Belvoir Stadium boss, Boro crashed to their eighth and heaviest defeat of the season when they lost 4-0 at Evo-Stik League First Division North leaders on Tuesday, just days after coming from behind to claim their sixth win of the campaign against Scarborough Athletic.

Full of praise for the table-toppers, Johnson believes the gulf in class proved too much for his improving Boro side.

"Northwich were just better than us," he told the Radcliffe Times.

"That wasn't because we were poor, it was because they were very good.

"We are a very competitive team but we just met a team that were a class above us, and probably a class above most teams in the league.

"They were dominant across the pitch in all areas and were the first team to wipe the floor with us at a bit of a canter."

With Sam Fitzgerald and Aaron Walters missing through injury, Boro were also without the experienced Steve Foster and after conceding two goals in each half, Johnson admits his squad is being tested.

"Those three players are big players for us," he said.

"Steve has been absolutely magnificent this season and we missed him.

"We've not disgraced ourselves but we've not put on a display that we've been accustomed to.

"We conceded at really poor times and probably gifted them three of the four goals.

"When they got the third just after half time it gave us a bit of a mountain to climb and we conceded the fourth on the break.

"It's a big learning curve for us because we've got lads in the team that haven't played at that sort of level before so they've got to pick themselves up now."

Despite the setback at Northwich, the Boro boss was delighted with his side's 2-1 comeback performance against Scarborough Athletic on Saturday.

"It was probably our best win of the season," he said.

"Scarborough are a very physical, experienced and solid team and once they found out that we could play they started to unsettle us and got a little over physical at times.

"They went ahead through a really soft penalty but we were magnificent in the second half and blew them away.

"It shows the great character and strength in mentality of the lads.

"They work so hard for each other and the people of Radcliffe should be really proud of what they are trying to do for them."

It doesn't get any easier for 17th-placed Boro who host fourth-placed Spennymoor Town at the Belvoir Stadium on Saturday.

"Every time we play them we put on a good show so hopefully the lads will show a bit of character like they did against Scarborough and bounce back," added Johnson.