WANTAGE Town manager Ben Sadler branded tomorrow’s trip to fellow strugglers Yate Town a ‘must-win’ match.

The Alfredians sit bottom of Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West and are eight points adrift of safety.

Yate are themselves precariously placed in 18th and Sadler believes if the club are to escape relegation, they must reel in the sides immediately above them.

“These are the sort of games which, if we’re going to stand any chance of staying up, we have to win,” he said.

“Looking at any of the teams from 15th place down, we need to beat as many of those sides as possible.

“At the moment, they can just look at us and Bridgwater and assume we’re going to lose. We have to start putting them under a little bit of pressure.”

The injured Adam Doyle (knee), Jake Johns (groin) and Tai Hulbert-Thomas (hernia) remain sidelined, while full back Charlie Hawtin has returned to parent club Oxford United.

Didcot Town are without their U’s loanee, Jordan Graham, due to a knee injury as they host second-placed Tiverton Town.

Jack Longford also misses out with a knee problem, while Ryan Barney has a hamstring injury.

For player-manager Andy Ballard, victory will set his side up for a run at the play-off positions.

He said: “January is a massive month for us, because we have to play almost everyone above us.

“It gives us a great chance to build a bit of a run and push up towards the play-offs.

“If we’re ever going to make a serious push then these are the teams to beat and this is the time to do that.”

North Leigh welcome back captain Stuart Hole from a four-game suspension as they travel to Salisbury.

“It’s been five weeks since his last game and it’s been frustrating for him,” said manager John Brough.

“We’ve missed him a lot, because he was in fantastic form before his suspension.”

Aaron Woodley is also out following a knee operation, while Matt Woodley has joined Oxford City Nomads on dual registration terms.

Goalkeeper Manny Agboola is expected to extend his loan from Oxford United until the end of the season.

Kidlington are without the injured Jack Dunmall (shoulder) and Charlie Wise (ankle) for tomorrow’s trip to Fleet Town in Division 1 Central.

Boss Julian McCalmon believes his side need to rediscover their motivation to succeed following a disappointing pair of defeats over Christmas.

McCalmon has arranged a squad meeting ahead of tomorrow’s match to address the issue.

The Greens are 19 points clear of the drop zone and 17 off the play-offs, arguably giving them little to play for.

“That’s not how I see it,” said McCalmon.

“We’re not going to drop out of the division, but I want to be a winner and that’s the mindset I want to instil in these players for next season.”

Ricky Johnson (ankle) is the only absentee for Banbury United’s match at Dorchester Town in the Premier Division.

A late Mark Bell goal gave the Puritans an impressive 1-0 victory over league leaders Leamington on Monday and manager Mike Ford urged his side to build on it.

He said: “We showed we’re a proper Southern League side – we were strong when we needed to be, we worked hard when not in possession and we restricted the leaders to very few chances.

“We’re capable of getting results against anyone in this division if we remember what we’re good at.

“But the last time we beat a top side was against Chippenham and we followed that up with a defeat.

“We’ve got to be ready for this one and make sure we go about it in the same way.”

TOMORROW’S SQUADS

Wantage Tn (v Yate Tn, away): from Cavanagh, Thompson, Kalakoutis, Francis, Elliott, Butler, Burton, Broad, Halls, Scholes, Jones, Glover, Brown, Robinson, D Sadler, Hathaway, McNeil, McKeon, Austin, Wood, Shamsi, Preece, Hunte.

Didcot Tn (v Tiverton Tn, home): from Bedwell, Organ, Ballard, Learoyd, Collins, Keeble, Whitehead, Benjamin, Barder, Tanner, Lovegrove, Thomas, Janes, Elkins, Joyce, McNish, Thorne, Tatford, Cattell.

North Leigh (v Salisbury, away): from Agboola, White, Fawke, Murphy, Hole, Hopkins, M Williams, L Williams, R James, D James, Seacole, Wrona, Thompson, Cook, Platt, Sysum, Gray, Else.

Kidlington (v Fleet Tn, away): from Warrell, Tetek, Quainton, Castle, Owen, Franklin, Gabbidon, Coyle, Willoughby, Osborne-Ricketts, A Odhiambo, E Odhiambo, Flanagan, Wise, Harvey.

Banbury Utd (v Dorchester Tn, away): from Harding, Gunn, White, Nash, Odhiambo, Westbrook, Martin, Bell, Browne, Self, McEachran, Johnson, Sambrook, Rimmer, Davies, McDonagh, Blackstock, Carnell, Humphreys, Ofosu.