SWINDON Supermarine cannot afford to lose more than three more matches this season if they are to reach the Southern League Division One South & West play-offs, according to boss Dave Webb.

Marine, beaten 4-2 on home soil by lowly Didcot Town on Wednesday night, currently sit seventh in the league table, six points behind fifth-placed North Leigh with 20 games of the campaign remaining.

The South Marston club have already been beaten on six occasions this term and their manager doesn’t think they will be able to challenge at the top end of the ladder if they allow their losses to move into double figures.

Webb told the Advertiser: “I think Paulton got into the play-offs with 75 or 76 points last year, we’ve got 38. I don’t think we can be losing into double figures, I think the league is far more competitive than that.

“We’ve got to string some results together and start being harder to beat. “ Taunton Town visit the Webb’s Wood Stadium on Saturday having won just twice on the road all season. However, following the chastening experience of Wednesday, when his side went two goals up against relegation-threatened Didcot only to end up losing, Webb is not expecting an easy ride.

“We know what we’ve got to do now. We’re in the second half of the season now, we’ve lost six games and drawn five. We know what we need to do if we want to get into the top five positions, we need to put results like (Wednesday night) behind us and start another run,” he said.

“Taunton are not a bad side, they’ve got some good players there, but I’d always expect a reaction from the team to show that (Wednesday) was a one-off and we can put it behind us. It’s at home, we’ve made it difficult at home of late, we’ve played well there.

“We need the three points on Saturday, we’ve put even more pressure on ourselves by losing (on Wednesday) and then we’ve got a local derby with Ciren next week, who are right at the top of the league.

“We’re not making it easy on ourselves but the quality is there, the character is there, hopefully they come in on Saturday and whichever team I pick will be able to get three points.”

Webb is boosted by the return from suspension of Dave Bampton, who will go straight into Marine’s matchday squad.