PAUL Carden insists there is “nothing to panic about” despite his Warrington Town side being stuck in a run of poor form.

A six-match winless run has seen Yellows drop out of the BetVictor Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off places to sixth place – one point outside the all-important top five.

Radcliffe – the team directly behind them in the table – are the visitors to Cantilever Park tomorrow, kick off 3pm, as both sides aim to jump back into the promotion shake-up.

Yellows have lost only four times this season – the joint-fewest number of defeats in the division – but have drawn nine games, including five of their current winless streak.

All five of those stalemates have seen Yellows surrender leads but in the face of criticism from some supporters following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Atherton Collieries, Carden insists he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“When you set standards and you’re not quite reaching them, obviously criticism will come,” he said.

“It’s not like we’re miles away from where we want to be. It’s disappointing but I think there needs to be a bit of calm and perspective.

“We’re at the halfway stage, we’re in and around where we want to be and we’re getting players back fit. There’s nothing to panic about.

“If we weren’t creating chances, I’d be worried but we are doing. Putting them away is the main issue as well as keeping the back door closed.

“We need to stop giving teams a leg-up. It only takes half a mistake for something to happen and that’s been prevalent in this run we’ve been on.

“If we stick together and get our heads down, the draws will start becoming wins again. I’m confident about that.”

If they are to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday, Town must find a way past a Radcliffe side that has based their unlikely promotion bid on a solid defence.

They have conceded just 23 goals this season – only leaders South Shields have let in fewer – albeit they arrive at Cantilever Park off the back of a 4-0 home thrashing at the hands of Bamber Bridge.

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Yellows drew 1-1 with Saturday's opponents Radcliffe when they last met in September. Picture by John Hopkins

Carden will again be able to call upon two new strikers in the shape of Jordan Buckley and Will Harris – both of whom made their debuts against Atherton.

Buckley has joined from league rivals FC United of Manchester while Harris will spend at least the next month on loan at the club from Premier League side Burnley.

The Yellows boss believes their presence will play a big part in changing his side’s fortunes by alleviating the pressure on veteran frontman Tony Gray, who has spent much of the campaign as Town’s only available striker.

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New strikers Jordan Buckley, top, and Will Harris will once again be available to Carden. Pictures by John Hopkins

“Now we’ve got some more options in attack, we’re not as heavily reliant on Tony,” he said.

“If you look at the bigger picture of it in terms of this time last season, we didn’t have injuries to our attacking line.

“We’ve had Josh Amis out for most of the season, Jack Dunn out for a big chunk, Dylan Vassallo out for two spells and obviously Bohan Dixon has been suspended now.

“All these players chipped in with so many goals last season and we’ve had them missing.

“Tony is 35 now and we’re flogging him.

“Last season, we had games where he’d scored twice and we’d be taking him off with 15 minutes to go to have him right and fresh for the next game.

“This season, we haven’t been able to do that and I think Tony will be the first to admit its reflected in his performances.”

Winger Jack Dunn’s fitness to face Radcliffe will be assessed after he picked up an injury against Atherton, while Bohan Dixon and Mitch Duggan remain suspended.