Gosport Borough must fight harder when they face fellow relegation battlers Frome Town

Both teams are in the bottom three of the Southern League premier division south and desperate for points in the relegation dogfight.

Borough are also keen to avoid a third successive home defeat.

For McAllister the result is far more important than the performance on Saturday (3pm).

The Borough player boss said: ‘This is a must-win game for both teams.

‘We all recognise how much is at stake so it should be a good, lively contest.

‘With time running out this game means a lot.

‘What matters most in this situation is having heart and desire.

‘We have got the quality but now we have to show we are up for the fight.

‘In recent games we have played well in patches but that isn’t any good to me.

‘I would rather play average and win games.

‘Points are all that matter.

‘Frome will arrive in exactly the same position fighting for their lives.

‘We have to be prepared to fight harder.’

McAllister still hasn’t ruled out strengthening his squad ahead of the game.

He knows there are certain areas that need a little more experience.

Goalkeeper Mark Childs, who has been plagued with injury problems, has left the club.

One positive for McAllister is he has a full-strength squad to choose from.

The Borough boss added: ‘The important thing is to win these games against the teams around us in the league.

‘That is what will get us out of trouble.

‘There are still 14 games to play so there is no need to panic.

‘We all need to stay calm and keep our nerve.

‘The experienced players in our squad have an important part to play in making sure this happens.

‘Some of the players were in this situation with us last season.

‘Hopefully they have learned the lessons from that experience.

‘Preferably we can turn things around now and not leave it to the last four or five games of the season.

‘There are plenty of points still to play for but we need to start winning sooner rather than later.’