The 'huge' battle at the bottom is heating up for Shropshire sides

The Gingerbread Men moved five points clear of the North West Counties League Division One South relegation zone with a 2-1 victory at Barnton last Saturday.

And tomorrow they host Cammell Laird 1907 on Saturday in a huge six-pointer as both look to stretch their advantage over the danger zone.

"It's huge, this is why we play football right? Because we want to be involved in big games,” added Dawson. "I said it when I first came into the football club, pressure is a privilege, and Saturday is a pressure game."

Wolverhampton Sporting's playing record this season has been expunged after resigning from the leagues - changing the shape of the relegation battle.

Haughmond are now bottom, four points adrift of safety, but they do not play this weekend.

Shawbury United are back in the drop zone after a 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Alsager Town, who moved three points clear of them in the race for survival.

Tomorrow, they are at home to a mid-table Foley Meir side, knowing they could pull them into the mix by closing the gap on them to six points.

Allscott Heath are level on points with Foley Meir and face a daunting visit from leaders Runcorn Town tomorrow.

Runcorn have not tasted anything other than victory in the league since October and have scored six or more goals in three of their last four games.

Meanwhile, Telford Town are in Macron Cup quarter-final action at Lancashire-based Nelson, who play in First Division North.

Ludlow Town are also braced for a tough test when they welcome the Hellenic League Division One pacesetters. 

FC Stratford, who are two points clear at the top of the table, are the visitors to Bromfield Road.

Meanwhile, AFC Bridgnorth boss Jack Griffiths is on the hunt for a new addition after seeing another one of his star performers depart.

The club have been rocked by the exit of skipper Mitch Evans, who has moved on to Midland League Division One rivals OJM.

The midfielder agreed the switch to the play-off hopefuls at the end of last week, just days after leading Bridgnorth to victory in the semi-final of the Shropshire FA Challenge Cup.

"It was really disappointing to see him go, especially after getting to the cup final,” said Griffiths. "A seven-day approach came in for him and he has gone to OJM.

"We have just got to a cup final and everyone is on a high, and then we have to put in the players' group that the skipper has just gone to one of our rivals. It put a bit of a dampener on things.

"We are looking for someone to come in and replace him. We are looking to see who is not getting much game time and who I think could do a job at Step 6. But he will be hard to replace.

"He is one of those players that you hate when he plays against you, but you love it when he is in your team. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he brought a lot to the club.”

It’s the fourth time Griffiths has seen one of his top performers picked off by another club.

After making a flying start to the season, attacking duo Reagan Wardle and Joel Westwood were enticed to Gornal Athletic, while Trayvon Powell joined Mickleover.

And Griffiths admits it’s getting harder and harder for some clubs to compete financially and keep hold of their players.

"I look back to the team that we had at the start of the season when we were flying, we had Joel, Reagan, Trey and Mitch, if you keep those guys together we would be in the play-offs,” added Griffiths. “It's killing this league, the amount of money that's flying around at Step 6.

“Bridgnorth have been down there scrapping at the bottom and we have not got the budget some other sides have.

“We are a small club at the end of the day, and we are trying our best. We go and get players from other divisions and the lower leagues.

"We are 18 months into a three-year plan and we are probably punching above our weight.

“We have been climbing the league and we have done it by finding gems in lower leagues.

“We are 11 points off the play-offs and we are still in two cups. We have a good day out to come at the end of the season and we want to build for next year.”

Griffiths’ immediate aim will be to taste some action tomorrow when they are scheduled to host Chelmsley Town.

Bridgnorth have seen a number of games fall victim to the weather and have only played at home once this year – a 4-1 win against Alexton & New Parks on January 17.

Whitchurch Alport are another side without much action under their belt so far this year - they visit relegation-threatened Highgate United in the Midland Premier tomorrow.

And in Northern One West, Shifnal Town's home game with Chasetown on Wednesday was postponed - they travel to Stafford Rangers tomorrow.