THE drinks will be flowing in Clitheroe tomorrow night -- whether they win the North West Counties League championship or not.

"But I just hope it's bubbly and not flat lager," said manager Lee Sculpher.

The Blues need a point at Nantwich Town to oust Mossley from the top of Division One, anything less and they will lose the league on goal difference.

"We'll only have ourselves to blame," said Sculpher, whose side lost the chance to wrap up the title when Newcastle Town beat them 1-0 at Shawbridge last weekend.

"Defeat would mean we've lost five of our last 10 games and that would suggest we've thrown it away.

"There are various reasons why we haven't won the league already and certain players know they haven't performed as they could have over the past six weeks.

"It's unfortunate it's come down to one game and we couldn't win it in front of our owns fans, but if somebody had said we'd be going into our last game at Nantwich needing just a point I'd have snapped their hand off."

Part of the reason for that could be because Clitheroe are away from home, with their form on the road the main driving force behind their title push.

"We've only lost two away from home," said Sculpher. "Our form has been fantastic, we've dropped 10 points so there's no reason to fear going to Nantwich.

"We are all bubbly and buoyant and looking forward to it. Nerves aren't a problem, and it wasn't nerves that cost us last week.

"Newcastle played very well and were better than us on the day. We had two or three chances but failed to take them, so although it was disappointing we are still confident."

Sculpher will also be throwing caution out of the equation despite the fact that his side only need to hold out for a draw.

Defending hasn't been Clitheroe's strong point this season so the manager is insisting they will attack and make more sure of the title with a victory, which also has an added incentive.

Sculpher added: "We want the win to get to 92 points, which is the biggest in Clitheroe's history and would be a massive achievement.

"We're not going there to draw, we're going to win the game. It would be ideal to get an early goal and get them on the back foot but knowing us we won't do that, we'll make it as difficult as possible!

"But we'll go with the intention of winning and playing no different to how we normally do."

Despite coming close in the past, there is a sense of injustice that this is the year when winning the title means the least in terms of progress.

Not only have Clitheroe known since the turn of the year that they would be going up to UniBond Division One, because of the top four being allowed automatic promotion, but the creation of a Conference North will leave them as far from the top of the non-league pyramid as they are now.

Sculpher added: "In the 10 or 12 years I've been at Clitheroe all we've tried to do is get out of the North West Counties League. Now we're going into a higher league, it's disappointing that, on paper, we don't go up.

"But I'm hopeful the squad will stay and we'll be playing a lot of new teams from a higher level next season, so it's a new adventure."

A hamstring strain could keep Neil Reynolds out of tomorrow's decider while Neil Spencer is unavailable.