JON Macken has backed his Radcliffe side to pick themselves up after their six-game winning run in the league was surprisingly ended last time out.

Boro went down 2-0 at Stafford Rangers, who had started the day at the bottom of the BetVictor Premier Division with just one win all season.

Macken’s men will look to rebound when Witton Albion visit the Neuven Stadium on Saturday, their visitors sixth in the table, two places and one point above them.

“We will do our job but they’ve got to pick themselves up as well because at the end of the day they are football players and they want to get to the position they are in the league and if they want to go on, they have to be better,” the Boro boss said after seeing a below-par performance from his side.

“They have to be better in training, in game time and there needs to be better preparation before the games which we have highlighted before.

“There are lots of different things we are going to be working on and explaining and at the end of the day they have to pick themselves up.”

Jake Charles scored both goals to end Boro’s brilliant run in the league that has pulled them firmly into contention at the right end of the table as they kick on impressively after promotion.

Defeat last Saturday, following on from the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy exit at Lancaster City the previous Tuesday night, saw Radcliffe slip out of the play-off places.

It is tight at the top though, with three points separating Warrington in fourth and Boro in eighth.

“You have to make your own luck, we’ve been on a great run,” Macken said.

“They (Stafford) were desperate for a win I suppose it showed in the way they played.

“They had belief, drive, desire to chase the ball down, to win second balls and fight for every 50-50.

“It was good to see for them but from our point of view we were nowhere near where we need to be and we have to give them some credit for that.”