OLD Centralians must win three of their five National Three South West games remaining if they are to stand any chance of surviving relegation.
That is the view of player/coach Ben Slatter as his prepare to host third-placed Bracknell tomorrow (2.30pm).
Though Bracknell will be tough, Slatter reckons Cents' run-in is slightly easier than relegation rivals Old Patesians and Avonmouth Old Boys.
After Bracknell , Cents face Brixham away the week after, before entertaining basement boys Chippenham, Old Redcliffians and Worcester Warriors.
The final three home clashes are must-wins, and anything else is a bonus, said Slatter.
"It is in our hands," he said. "If we win three out of the next five games, we have given ourselves the best chance of staying up. All we can do is win our games, the rest is out of our hands.
"We haven't thought about playing in South West One West next year because we still want to prove we are capable of playing in this league.
"It has been a difficult season. We were without a lot of first-team players to start with due to injury and unavailability, but it has also been positive as we have not been blown away in this league by any means. We are focused on ourselves ahead of Bracknell.We hope they will come to us with a bit of complacency.
"If we can get everyone fit, we may just sneak something at home and save ourselves from a disappointing season."
Cents suffered a 36-15 defeat to Barnstaple last weekend with several players forced to play out of position due to unavailability.
Injury to Liam Hemming (hamstring), who faces a fitness test today, also came as a blow as Barnstaple ran riot in the final quarter to put the game out of sight.
Injury could prove a problem as the club have been asked to play their last two games in just three days to ease their fixture backlog.
The Old Reds fixture is scheduled for April 19, with the Worcester Warriors clash booked for Monday, April 21.
