CINDERFORD director of rugby Paul Morris says his side have to look to win every game between now and the end of the season to avoid the drop.

Morris admits his task become even harder with the 27-26 defeat of Blaydon by Loughborough Students and believe it will be a ’miracle’ if the Dockham Road club are to preserve their National League One status.

“It’s either going to be a miracle for this year or laying down the foundations for next year,” Morris said of Cinderford’s run-in.

“The likelihood is that it will be in National Two South. But we’ve been better off the pitch and that’s reflected on the pitch now too.

“We’re just trying to be better each week. We need to go out and prepare to win every game now.

“We haven’t got a lot of leeway now. We are preparing to win the game against Coventry.

“They are, by their own admission, underachieving this season with their budget and outlay on players. They’ve just brought in a new director of rugby so I imagine there’ll be a bit of concern not in terms of their league position but where things are going.

“The reality for us though is that we’ve got to go there to go and win.

“The result between Blaydon and Loughborough wasn’t the one we would have liked but we have to stay focused on ourselves. We’ve come a long way since before Christmas.”

Morris was running the line as touch judge for Cinderford United’s win over Berry Hill in the Forest Combination Cup and was pleased to see Clive Stuart-Smith’s first appearance since sustaining a knee injury in last season’s relegation-beating run-in.

“It was Clive’s first game since April last year when he got injured and he did well,” Morris said.

“He’s a pretty resilient chap and a tough lad. He played well and it was good to see him on the pitch. I was really pleased with him and Nev Codlin played for the first time since January.

“There are lots of players in the United team with first team prospects. There’s a nice mix of youngsters and experience.

“Berry Hill were very impressive and you can understand why they’re doing well in their league.”