Paul Davis admitted the task of keeping Banbury United in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division was a much greater one than he had envisaged, writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

The Puritans had lost all six matches prior to Davis’ appointment in August and still find themselves 11 points from safety, with just five matches remaining ahead of tomorrow’s home clash with Weymouth.

“The task is miles bigger than I thought when I took over the club,” said Davis.

“The previous manager had a lot of players in and I presumed that, because they were playing Southern League football already, they would be good enough to cut it at this level.

“The fact is that they just weren’t and we had to have a massive rejig to get things to where they are now.”

Banbury’s slender hopes of avoiding the drop were boosted by picking up four points from their two Easter matches, with a 3-0 victory over relegated Burnham followed by a 1-1 draw at Redditch United.

Davis is now targeting nothing less than five wins.

He added: “Even if we win all five of our games, we’re reliant on other teams, so we just have to get as many points as we can from them.”

Hicham Abdellah (hamstring) faces a fitness test, but Banbury are otherwise at full strength.

TOMORROW’S TEAM

Banbury Utd (v Weymouth, home): from Bedwell, Walcott, Cray, Abdellah, Meade, Ryan, Green, Martin, Tahin, George, Howards, Fishwick, Weston, Tappin, Amegnaglo, Browne, Westbrook, Lewars, Daffern, Isaac.