NOTHING less than a victory at struggling Hayes & Yeading will suffice for Banbury United if they harbour any realistic hopes of reaching the play-offs, according to boss Mike Ford.

The Puritans lost 2-0 at Stratford Town in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division last week, and are now three points behind fifth-placed Merthyr with five games left.

But Ford insists his focus is solely on tomorrow, and a must-win game for their play-off hopes.

He said: “It was disappointing last week, because we played so well in the second half, but we gave ourselves too much to do.

“But that’s behind us now. If we have any ambition, we have to win tomorrow.

“I have a number of players who have played in the National League, and so tomorrow is a huge game.

“Hayes will be desperate for the points for their own reasons.

“They will be very motivated to do well, and we have to match that.

“Our motivation level needs to be nine or ten out of ten.”

Ford has a full-strength squad and underlined the importance of taking it a game at a time.

“I’ve said before I’d like to get to the last game of the season with something to play for, but for me, it’s just about tomorrow,” he said.

TOMORROW’S TEAM

Banbury Utd (v Hayes & Yeading, away): from Harding, White, Bradbury, Martin, Westbrook, Carnell, McEachran, Nash, Johnson, McDonagh, Winters, Odhiambo, Duku, Humphreys, Bell, Browne, Self.