Washed out Drayton after a brighter week

Town, whose home clash with Lincoln United was among 25 league games called off on Saturday, are due a derby date at Leek Town.

And manager Martyn Davies sees it as the first of five February fixtures that could decide Town's hopes of getting back into the first division south's play-off zone.

Town have slipped to exactly mid-table since spending the best part of a heady month among the division's top four chasing Stafford Rangers, now leading the pack by an outrageous 17 points.

But while Rangers are romping away, the competition for the second promotion spot is so close that, in theory at least, Town could get right back in the mix with just a couple of victories.

Davies said: "There's some tough competition, I know, but the play-offs are still within reach. We've already proved we can beat the best in this division.

"What we need now is consistency, which for a young team invariably takes a little longer to achieve.

"We've got a county final, the TJ Vickers Premier Cup, to look forward to, which is great, but it would be even better if we could also keep our league season alive with a run at the play-offs.

"I think that the next handful of games will almost certainly decide whether we will be able to mount a serious challenge for a play-off place.

"Obviously, a lot depends on results elsewhere but if we can pick up wins this month I think we can be back in the hunt."

Town's five game test is a tough one. Four of the fixtures are away and two of them are against teams currently in the top four.

They come against second-placed Coalville, who are their only home date, on Tuesday, the 23rd and fourth in line Shaw Lane Aquaforce, who they visit four days later.

The other three games are at Leek tomorrow evening, Newcastle Town on the 13th and long-time backmarkers Tividale on the 20th.