Defender Ben Futcher remains insistent that survival is still a possibility for Macclesfield Town, and that he and his team mates are staying confident.
And big Ben knows that he and the rest of the squad will scrap every inch of the way, since no one wants a relegation on their record.
Still winless since the turn of the year the Silkmen do seem in desperately need for flashes of the early-season form that saw them on the verge of the play-offs.
Since the heady days of autumn, a gloom has descended on the Moss Rose, with dire injury problems to key men gradually chipping away at their long-since vanished swagger.
And with now-departed boss Gary Simpson using the loan system to maximum effect this season, any suggestion that his temporary signings will simply wave goodbye and return carefree to their parent clubs is dismissed by Futcher.
"I don’t want a relegation on my CV, no one does, that’s something every player wants to avoid," said the strapping centre-back.
"Dropping into the bottom two was definitely a reality check for all of us, maybe we were under the impression that we can’t go down.
"We know we’ve got a good squad here, but it doesn’t matter how good the squad is on paper, we need to make sure it’s good on the pitch.
"I believe it’s still in our hands though, if we get enough wins ourselves before the end of the season we’ll be OK.
"It’s not going to be easy but confidence is still high and the belief’s there that we’ll get out of it."
The Bury loan man was drafted in last February by Simpson, his old ally from their ‘golden age’ at Lincoln, although ‘Simmo’ has since been dismissed after a shocking run of results.
And Futcher admits he was fullt briefed about the problems facing his old friend when he joined the despondent club.
"Obviously I’ve known Simmo a long time and he said we were struggling when I first got here," revealed Futcher.
"I was under no illusions – it’s a young squad that has suffered a lot of injuries, especially to some of the players that can get you goals.
"We’re the lowest scorers in the division and you know you’re always going to be in for an uphill battle when that’s the case.
"You can bring out all the cliches there are but the bottom line is that if we don’t win some games then the club will be in the Conference next year and that would be such a shame after all the work of a lot of people to get Macclesfield here and keep the club here for so long.
"The games are running out now, we’re definitely in ‘must-win’ time and we’re not kidding ourselves, we know the situation.
"We’re at the bottom for a reason but we’re still in there with a fighting chance and we are still fighting.
"I knew it was a predicament when I came, we knew it would be difficult to pull away.
"But Barnet have a tough run-in, and if we can put the pressure back on them then it’s still all to play for. We can pick some wins up and claw the other teams back in, but we know the games are running out now."
