JON Macken says his Radcliffe side will not give up on their automatic promotion dream, despite suffering a blow in midweek at Colne.

A 1-0 defeat in Lancashire left Boro four points off leaders Atherton Collieries with three matches to play – starting with a trip to Colwyn Bay on Saturday, where a win would guarantee a play-off spot.

Pressure has been building at the top of the Evo-Stik West table for weeks but Macken refuses to be downbeat if his side were to miss out on the automatic spot.

“When you look at it and where we are as a club and a team we have done phenomenally well, we are still in the mix and we will still be fighting,” he said.

“In a bizarre way nothing has changed, I suppose it’s still in our hands to do what we need to do.

“We were always going to be a point behind them whether it was one or four, so in that sense it was out of our hands.

“They (Atherton Colls) will be overjoyed but if you look at the games we have had over the past couple of weeks, we have done tremendously well.

“So, as I say, momentum probably killed us a little bit.”

Macken set his players a points target a few weeks ago and says they are still on track to meet it – but Colls’ steady form at the top has just about kept them at bay.

After Colwyn Bay, Boro host Ramsbottom United in a mouth-watering local derby at the Neuven Stadium on Easter Monday, which could yet be critical as Macken’s side look to finish their season in style.

“Every game is tough now,” he said. “We have to use the players we have got, we have to keep fighting and keep believing.

“We still have something to fight for, we had a target a couple of weeks ago and we are still on track for that.

“It is still achievable what we set out to do. We have to keep going and if that means it’s the play-offs that means it’s play-offs.

“We will have to fight our way through.”