City boss' warning as Dolly Blues slip to third straight league defeat

Lancaster City boss Phil Brown has not ruled out getting sucked into a relegation battle in Evo-Stik Premier Division.
Lancaster City boss Phil Brown could freshen things up in a bid to get his side firing again.  Picture: Tony NorthLancaster City boss Phil Brown could freshen things up in a bid to get his side firing again.  Picture: Tony North
Lancaster City boss Phil Brown could freshen things up in a bid to get his side firing again. Picture: Tony North

The Dolly Blues’ poor run of results continued in midweek as they were beaten 3-0 at Giant Axe by promotion-chasing Ashton United.

The defeat was City’s third on the spin and they have lost five of their last six in the league – the only bright moment in that spell coming in a 2-0 victory over Halesowen Town at the end of last month.

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After winning promotion as champions from the First Division North last year, City enjoyed a decent first half of the campaign and there was talk of making a push for the play-offs.

However, while still in a healthy 12th spot in the table, the Dolly Blues are only 10 points above Stalybridge Celtic, who are fourth from bottom.

And Brown is all too aware that his men could get dragged into a fight for survival should the poor sequence of results continue.

“We can’t put our feet up in terms of relegation,” said Brown. “We are still looking over our shoulders especially with this run that we are on.

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“It’s very tight where we are in the table – a defeat could see you drop five places.

“So I certainly don’t think we can afford to take things easy and think we are safe.”

Brown may look to shake things up in terms of his team selection for Saturday’s trip to Coalville Town.

Although he is not in a position to bring in raft of new faces, there are certain players who have been waiting patiently in the wings ready to stake a claim.

“We haven’t got the resources to keep bringing players in.

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“We can’t just sign three or four new players like other clubs in this league can.

“We have to work to the resources which are available to us.

“But there’s a few lads in the squad who have been waiting for a chance, so it might be time that they got their opportunity.

“There’s one or two lads who are lacking a bit of confidence and are down on their luck – they might need a little bit of a break.”

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City defeated Coalville 4-2 at home earlier in the season and are four places above them in the table.

However, only one point separates the two teams and the Leicestershire-based outfit will leapfrog above Brown’s men should they gain revenge on their own patch.

“We played them earlier in the season and beat them 4-2, but they have got a couple of decent players up front who caused us problems on the day,” he said.

“It’s a game we will be looking to get something out of, but we know it’s not going to be easy.

“They are below us in the table, but there’s only a point between us so we will certainly know what to expect.”