CREWE FC boss Ian O'Reilly says his team's form must improve if they are to mount a promotion push.

Sitting in seventh place, O'Reilly says promotion will be extremely difficult after mixed fortunes since Christmas but is not ruling it out as they prepare for the visit of Tarporley Victoria this Saturday.

With the weekend's game at Malpas being called off due to bad weather, the manager hopes his team will get back on the winning trail but he expects a tough fixture.

He said: 'Tarporley have been on a good run lately and we drew 1-1 at their place. It's going to be tough be we've got to be winning these games.

'I don't think we're playing consistently and we're not getting the rub of the green but we've just got to keep slugging away and we might reach the top two.'

They will have to do it without the likes of hitman PJ Hudson, Darren Vickers and Shaun Gilraine, who are all due suspensions in the coming weeks.

But that problem is likely to be eased by the presence of two new signings.

O'Reilly added: 'There's lots of points still to play for and it's still in our hands as we have a few games in hand. If we get a little run going we'll have a good chance.'