VAUXHALL Motors boss Carl Macauley has moved quickly to solve his midfield crisis before tonight's trip to Leigh RMI.
Motors have managed just one win in 2007 and have plummeted from play-off outsiders to relegation battlers.
For tonight's visit to Hilton Park, Macauley will be unable to select suspended midfielders Tom Field and Mike Garrity so he has drafted in Keith Smith, a 19-year-old straight from Liverpool College, as cover.
Leigh are just one point behind the Motormen and are the only team between them and the relegation zone.
Macauley will once again turn to Lee Furlong to lead his team's attack.
The 27-year-old striker returned to the side on Saturday following suspension and scored in the Motormen's 1-1 draw with Scarborough at Rivacre Park.
Furlong broke the deadlock on the hour mark, bursting through the Scarborough defence before firing a shot beyond the reach of visiting keeper Mark Wilberforce.
Motors' lead lasted just four minutes, however, as Scarborough drew level when Jamie Vermiglio won a midfield battle against Anthony Wright and passed to Chris Thompson, who beat Motors keeper Sean Lake at his near post.
Macauley said: 'A win on Friday would be a massive result for us. We have Lee back but we have problems now in midfield. We lost a lot of goals at the turn of the year when we lost John Lawless, but Tom Rooney and Anthony Wright need to step up to the plate and start putting away their chances.
'We are still creating chances but we need to finish them.'
Macauley admits he could shake up his squad in the close season if results fail to improve.
He said: 'This summer we need to take another look at the squad. I will need to ship some players out who are not doing the business and bring in some new faces to improve the depth of the squad so it is less noticeable when someone is missing.
'That is what I have to worry about now, but for the team the main thing is getting results. Draws are better than defeats but, really, in our position they are useless. We have to get wins on the board if we want to survive.'
* Rivacre Park welcomed it's biggest crowd of the season on Saturday as 301 fans passed through the turnstiles to see the Motormen's draw.
* Vauxhall Motors' youth section is on the lookout for the next crop of enthusiastic coaches to help their youngsters reach their full potential.
Anyone interested in joining the FA Community Charter set-up, whether already qualified as a coach or not, can contact the club's Youth Development Officer, Linda Edmunds, on 0151 3395447 for further details.
