CLITHEROE boss Dave Burgess has sent out a 'Don't panic' plea to his under-pressure players.

The Blues have lost their last two NWCFL Division One games and have seen the league leaders Prescot Cables open up a four-point gap at the top.

Clitheroe, who travel to Cheadle Town tonight -- weather permitting -- are in third place, six points behind the leaders.

But with two games in hand, Burgess is quite happy with the way things are going.

"We have only lost two, so I am not panicking yet for sure," he said. "We have lost one at home and one away in 12.

"It's not so bad. It's kept us up there because the teams around us have got beat too.

"We haven't been playing to the standard we set ourselves at the start of the season. We are not poor but we have fallen off the pace a little. Most worrying is that we have conceded 10 goals in the last three games when we conceded nine in the previous eight games, but that shows where the problem is, if there is one." "Losing Mark Stewart in defence hasn't helped. We have tried to address it, working on defence in training.

"We haven't had to do that in the past because the defence has held fast."

Clitheroe's match at home to Mossley on Saturday was called off due to a waterlogged pitch and there is a major doubt about tonight's game.

If it goes ahead, Burgess will pick from the same squad that would have been available on Saturday.

Mark Stewart (groin) and Chris Whittingham (ankle) are both out. Steve Denny comes back in after one game out through injury.

Burgess, who is in his first season as manager of Clitheroe's first team, says he is still loving the job despite the end to the club's impressive unbeaten run which lasted 10 games.

He said: "I'm still enjoying it. When you are third in the league at the beginning of November with the chance to go top if we win the games in hand you ahev to be happy.

"I'd rather be at this end of the table than the other, we are not in a bad positition."

Accrington Stanley's game at Winsford Town in Group Five of the League Cup tonight is off, but Bacup play host to Chadderton.