RADCLIFFE BOROUGH assistant manager Mike Farrelly expects his side will have to battle right to the end of the season, despite their current seven-point cushion at the top of the UniBond Division One table.

Boro play at Guiseley on Saturday looking to extend their lead over third-placed Ossett Town even further, but Farrelly warned: "With the play-offs coming in this season, there are going to be no easy games.

"Teams like Rossendale and Ashton are going to be looking for the top two to slip up so that they can get back into the reckoning for one of the two automatic promotion places and there are going to be lots of teams pushing for the play-offs.

"Added to that you will have others who are battling to avoid relegation. There won't be many games where there isn't something at stake, so that's what I mean by it going right to the bitter end," said Farrelly.

"We came back with our first win for a while at Witton the other week. It was good to get up and running again, that's why it was disappointing not to be able to play last weekend. If we had beaten Ossett Town it would have put us ten points clear of them, but it was out of our hands.

"We are obviously hoping to get one of the top two places because we don't want to get involved in the play-offs.

"Everyone's got to play everyone else and I think the play-offs are a good thing though. It keeps it going right to the death."

Boro will still be without the suspended Richard Battersby tomorrow and influential centre back Gus Wilson is also unavailable.

Richard Landon has a calf injury, but he trained on Tuesday night, while defender James Price, who went off with a dead leg during the win at Witton, should be back in the reckoning.

Guiseley have steadied the ship after two relegation-haunted seasons. After dropping down from the UniBond Premier Division in season 1999-2000, they came close to another demotion last term, but hung on to their place in Division One by the skin of their teeth.

Things have improved somewhat in the last 12 months and Guiseley now occupy a respectable mid-table position and have reached the semi-final of the President's Cup competition.

On Tuesday night they were knocked out of the Yorkshire Cup at the quarter-final stage by Harrogate Town, who currently top the UniBond Division One table. That ended an eight-game unbeaten run, but manager Neil Parsley was still not too downhearted.

"The game against Harrogate gave me a good yardstick on how far we have come in the last 12 months," he said. "We have steadied the ship on a restricted budget and now we are looking to move forward."

Guiseley's top scorer is Ryan Senior, who has hit 13 goals after signing from local side Eccleshill United a month into the season. He was laid low by a kidney injury for over two months, but is now back and firing on all cylinders.

Long-serving centre back Clive Freeman is likely to be missing , however, after picking up a groin strain in the game against Harrogate.