RADCLIFFE Borough are holding on to their UniBond Premier League status by the thinnest of margins after two defeats in four days this week.

Andy Johnston's men were beaten 2-0 by both Ossett and Mossley, and they now look odds-on for the drop alongside Grantham and Mossley.

It's been a far from ideal week for the Boro boys, and Johnston admits it's becoming an all too familiar tale of woe.

"It's a similar story every week," said Johnston, who missed the Ossett game because he was away with the England Ladies squad in his position as goalkeeping coach.

"Against Mossley, we had the majority of possession but their keeper made good saves, we had one cleared off the line and every goal-bound shot we struck seemed to be blocked.

"The pitch was difficult, and I think we coped quite well with that. Jamie (Miller) had a great chance to head home from a cross, but he lost it in the floodlights, while they took their chances."

Johnston admits his side now have a near-impossible task ahead of them to avoid the drop, but he still believes there is plenty to play for.

"It is going to be difficult to stay up because we would have to win pretty much all of our remaining games," said Johnston.

"But, we have to keep looking ahead and moving forwards. We are still looking to freshen things up with the odd new face, and I will spend this weekend watching a couple of games because we are not playing ourselves.

"There is the option of bringing in people now, but we also have to start planning for next year - regardless of what league we are in.

"We have signed up five players on contracts already and we have another four or five in mind who we know will be available this summer.

"The rest of the players know that they have to prove they want to stay here next season in our remaining games. There won't be a massive exodus of faces, but we won't be afraid to freshen it up a bit."

One man who is set to be given his chance is teenage winger Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist has been plucked from the Burscough youth team, and was given a run from the bench in the last two games.

"Adam looks real quality in training, and five-a-side. However, there is a big difference between that and being a star at our level," said Johnston.

"It's a difficult one because I want to give him a chance and see him in action, but to throw him in and expose him could ruin him.

"For example, our next game is against Witton and that is a hell of a game to throw a young lad into.

"We will give him some sort of action, though, and we hope to have him back for pre-season."