ELVASTON captain Nick Briars believes his side can still survive the drop, despite finding themselves adrift at the bottom of the Beechwood Derbyshire Premier League.

Briars' men take on Sandiacre Town at Stable Drive tomorrow in desperate need of points.

They will be boosted by the return of Derbyshire paceman Ian Hunter and wicketkeeper Lee Archer, as they look to bounce back from last weekend's thumping 151-run defeat at the hands of leaders Ockbrook & Borrowash.

Briars (pictured right) knows Elvaston face a tough task if they are to drag themselves out of the relegation zone – they currently trail third-from-bottom lkeston Rutland by 42 points – but he is not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

“We are past the halfway point of the season and we have definitely got a bit of catching up to do,” said the skipper.

“But we will keep going until the end, there is no question about that.

“I have got an idea in my mind of what we need to do and how many wins we may need.

“It is not going to be easy but it is not impossible.

“Last season, we got results against teams you wouldn't expect us to. Although there are some very good sides in this league, none are unbeatable.

“So we go into every game trying to win.”

Briars added: “We may need more points to survive than last season, because the league seems more stretched out this year.

“Last year, there were six or seven teams hovering around the lower end of the table.

“That's not so much the case this season, so more points will probably be required.

“Last season, I think 220 points got you safe but that might not be enough this time.”

Elvaston have lost eight of their 12 league games so far, winning only one and compiling 106 points.

Briars is in no doubt where the problem lies.

“We are over 50 points adrift and it is all our own fault, basically,” he said.

“Our bowling has not been too bad but we have been bowled out too many times.

“On too many occasions, that has been down to us giving our wickets away.

“If we could have reduced the number of times we have been bowled out, that gap would not be so big.

“We were bowled out early in our first five matches of the season and I reckon that accounted for about 50 points, compared to if we had batted out our overs.

“It is frustrating because there have definitely been matches when we have had a chance to win and ended up losing.”

Ockbrook racked up a massive 342-2 against Elvaston last week.

Briars said: “Ockbrook are a class batting outfit and I think that is the only big score we have conceded this season.

“So I am hoping it was a one-off and that, this weekend, our batting clicks, we bat well and we bat long.

“We have strengthened the side up a bit this week and we will be looking to get as many points as possible out of the match.

“In all our games, our first thought is to try to win and then, depending on how it's going, you obviously take the option that will get you the most points.

“We are hoping the weather stays fine because we need to play every game from now on if we are going to stand any chance of cutting the gap.”

Sandiacre currently lie sixth in the table but are only 14 points behind second-placed Spondon, who they claimed a winning draw against last weekend.

Captain John Trueman said: “We are sitting in sixth place at the moment and we are too good a side, when everyone is available, to be happy with that.

“So we will be looking to put that right between now and the end of the season.

“I don't see anyone catching Ockbrook from here but we are only a handful of points off second place and we are capable of putting a run of results together.”

“We played well last Saturday and backed it up with a good performance in the Cockspur Cup against York on the Sunday, so we have got a bit of momentum going.

“But we will still have to play well if we want to beat Elvaston.”

Kevin Newbold is unavailable for Sandiacre but John Jordison returns to the side.