RADCLIFFE boss Lee Fowler has a pretty clear idea of where his side sit in the Northern Premier League pecking order.

If the NPL Premier Division was the Premier League, Fowler sees comparisons with how Burnley battle against the odds in the top flight, certainly when it comes to the finances manager Sean Dyche has to work with.

But it’s not the Clarets he wants to emulate, it’s Leicester and their remarkable title win of 2016 that does not look like being repeated any time soon.

Boro are currently 14th in the table in their second season at the level after promotion, managing to get in eight games before the second national lockdown of the year.

“I was saying to the lads I see us as like Burnley in the Premier League in terms of budget wise,” said Fowler, who will not take charge of his side again competitively until at least Boxing Day. 

“That may be the case in terms of budget but I think we can be a Leicester who didn’t have the biggest of budgets but went and won the Premier League.

“I’m not saying we’re going to win the league because there’s a lot of teams who are paying big, big money and could triple our wages but what we have got is a group of people from top to bottom who are all connected into one which I don’t believe many of these clubs have got.

“We’re looking to finish as high as we possibly can. Ultimately I don’t think there’s much in the league.

“South Shields are many people’s team to beat and it was a tough game but we beat them 3-1. Warrington are second in the league and how we lost that game is beyond me.

“The last the six results in the league we’ve won three, drawn two and lost one and if I’d had the team I’ve got now at the start I genuinely believe we’d be up near the top of the table.”

Fowler says he has also been impressed with the work going on off the field, as well as what is being done to try and bring success on it.

“There’s stuff going on behind the scenes that I’ve been a massive part of as well that will become apparent this season or maybe in the summer,” he said.

“It’s important that myself and the chairman (Paul Hilton) are working hand in hand not just the first team but other things around it.”