I thought you lot were the only part time pub team in this division?
* Stands well back and waits for the outrage *
Northwich Victoria have no time to lick their wounds following their FA Trophy semi-final exit as they embark on a gruelling programme of 15 games in 40 days.
And as things stand the Vics can ill afford to take it easy in any of them as they look to secure their Conference status between now and the end of the regular season on April 28.
Northwich's run in the Trophy, allied to postponements due to the weather and being forced to give priority to a County Cup tie, means they have almost a third of their league matches still to play.
The result is the worst fixture back-log, including 11 games in the first four weeks of April, that boss Steve Burr has experienced in his career as player or manager in the non-league game.
He told BBC Sport: "I find it amazing to be eight games behind another team in the same division.
"You can't do anything about the weather, but games should be fitted in.
We are perhaps looking at 50 points to be safe
Steve Burr
"Being part-time doesn't help either. Lads have jobs to do as well, which makes it difficult. It is a little bit easier for a full-time team.
"But there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to get on with it and try and cope."
Northwich start their marathon run tonight (Tuesday) against Exeter City on the back of Saturday's FA Trophy semi-final defeat to Kidderminster Harriers.
With a mountain to climb after trailing 2-0 from the first-leg, Northwich, who felt they were denied the rub of the green over a couple of contentious refereeing decisions, briefly levelled the tie before losing 4-3 on aggregate.
"We lost it in the first game. I don't think we could have done much more on Saturday, but that's gone and now we have to concentrate on all these game we have to play," Burr said.
We don't want anybody getting knocks so we have to be careful with the type of training we do
Steve Burr
Six Trophy ties, including a much-postponed second-round meeting at Eastbourne, have disrupted Northwich's league campaign to such an extent that despite a run of just three defeats in nine games league games since the turn of the year they find themselves in the relegation zone.
Burr added: "It didn't surprise me when we dropped into the bottom-four. You are not going to stay where you are when you are not playing league games.
"Now we have got games to catch up on on everyone else and the approach is that you hope players can perform without picking up any more injuries."
Long-term injuries to strikers Jonny Allan and Chris Williams and skipper Stuart Elliott means the Vics are operating with just 17 players.
Burr hopes to add a couple to that number ahead of Thursday's transfer deadline but admits that he needs to protect his players, some of whom have jobs outside their twice-a-week training regime, as he best he can.
Vics fans were treated to an FA Cup tie at Sunderland
"You need to train and work on things but now the concern is when you do train you don't want anybody getting knocks so we have to be careful with the type of training we do," he said.
Remarkably, Northwich have played eight games less than Cambridge United, who are just a point and a place above them, and have six or seven games in hand on most of the other sides around them in the relegation scrap.
Even Grays Athletic, who also reached the last four of the Trophy, have played four games more.
"I am sure that if had not fallen behind in the number of games we have played we would not be in the position we are in the table.
"But we are where we are and we now have a tough run-in," Burr added.
Having expanded last summer, the Conference top-flight involves a 46-game fixture list for the first time with four clubs going down.
And Burr believes every team in the bottom half of the table still has to guarantee its safety, including his own.
"I would think you are perhaps looking at 50 points. That's how close it is," he said.
"But as long as we have enough to be more than fourth place off the bottom I will be happy with that.
"It's so tight that everybody will believe they can stay in the division. But four will go down and we just don't want it to be us."
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