LANCASTER City face an uphill struggle to get near league leaders Burton Albion after slumping to defeat at Gainsborough on Tuesday night.

City must now face tricky trips to Droylsden and Altrincham in the next week, with the Bloods first up on Saturday.

Leading scorer Andy Whittaker will be missing for that clash as he serves the final match of his suspension.

Altrincham retain third place in the table, though their financial difficulties have forced several players to leave and the club has struggled in recent weeks.

City started Tuesday night's game sluggishly, with two defenders failing to stop Lee Ellington's powerful run, which lead to the opening goal on six minutes.

City then failed to deal with a corner from John Reed, and Gareth Williams tapped in from close range on the half hour.

Within two minutes, City looked dead and buried, with Ellington scoring his second of the match from close range.

Lancaster battled valiantly in the second half, with Andy Lyons blasting a long-range free kick against the bar on 64 minutes.

Substitute Phil Brown also went close before Tony Hesketh's side finally got on the score sheet on 82 minutes.

Colin Potts showed his pace and reached the byline before crossing for Kenny Mayers to tap in.

Lyons finally grabbed a goal in the dying seconds when he fired a powerful shot home from the edge of the area after more good work from the ever-dangerous Potts.

Lancaster had their local derby against Bamber Bridge on Saturday called off due to the torrential rain.

But there was one glimmer of light on Saturday when Nigel Clough's Burton Albion side stumbled to a 1-1 draw against struggling Whitby.

However, on Tuesday night Burton managed to claim three points against Emley, leaving Lancaster with a 13-point mountain to climb and only two games in hand.