HAVING lost three league games on the trot in NWCL Division One, Denis Underwood realises that for Clitheroe the next handful of games represent a kind of reckoning.

Do the Blues have the necessary attributes to avoid having to sing them come the end of the season?

Will the present slump be but a temporary blip when we are engaged in post-season analysis?

Was the shenanigans of two seasons ago, when first they were up to the UniBond and then they weren't, something that may take years to rectify?

There is no doubt that Underwood would like to respond Yes, Yes and No to the above at the appropriate time.

But for now his mind is on the present which he hopes will be successful enough to erase the memories of the recent past.

Three league defeats in a row isn't terminal but it's not the kind of sequence you wish to extend indefinitely.

Underwood, along with joint manager Gary Butcher, is planning to bring this sorry episode to a halt tomorrow when Clitheroe play host to Darwen, who - as Denis realises - are never the most co-operative of combatants.

"Everybody now says that we can't win the league," said Underwood, a senior supervisor at Philips Components, Blackburn.

"They say that Newcastle can't be caught.

"I believe there's still a long way to go.

"We need a run of four or five wins to exert some kind of pressure.

"Then if we play them and win they will definitely start looking over their shoulder.

"One thing I've stressed to our lads is to forget what everybody else is doing.

"All we need to worry about is ourselves. "If we concentrate on that we can get right back into it."

For the past several weeks Underwood has secured he services of ex-Burnley favourite Nathan Peel.

The 25-year-old striker has scored twice in four outings, on his debut against Trafford and in a hostile atmosphere at Mossley.

So far he hasn't pledged his long-term future to Shawbridge but Underwood is happy to have him on board.

"As far as we're concerned - and Nathan wants it this way - he's just another player," added Underwood.

"I've known him for a long time and he's come in basically to keep playing football, to stay fit and to keep his name around.

"He's had to adjust to the game being more physical at non-league level.

And also he's not getting as much time on the ball.

"But he's done well so far and will be looking forward to making his home debut tomorrow."

If tomorrow does bring a victory for Clitheroe, Underwood might look back on it as a watershed match.

"Any team who's there or thereabouts with seven, eight games to go will fancy their chances," he said.

"There are still plenty of games to go.

"If we win enough of those games, we'll achieve what we're looking for.

"That's got to be the way we look at it from now on."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.