FC CLACTON boss Kieron Shelley has urged his players to “fight for the badge” and keep giving their all during the relegation run-in.

The Seasiders are second-from-bottom in the Thurlow Nunn League premier division but return to action, after a three-week break, at home to Walsham-le-Willows on Saturday.

It is the first of five remaining fixtures, with matches against Mildenhall Town, Wivenhoe Town, Godmanchester Rovers and Swaffham Town to follow before the end of April.

And Shelley is refusing to wave the white flag in terms of relegation – insisting his squad has enough talent and experience to clamber to safety.

“We’ll keep on fighting for our lives, in order to try and dig ourselves out of this hole,” he said.

“On paper, we’ve got some winnable games left and I don’t see any reason why we can’t beat the likes of (bottom-half quartet) Walsham, Wivenhoe, Godmanchester and Swaffham.

“Even Mildenhall may have won the title by the time we go there, so there’s a chance they may take their foot off the pedal.

“We just have to make sure our attitude is right and that we’re all on the same page, fighting for the badge.

“We have to start games in the right manner, positively and with the right levels of intensity, and there aren’t any excuses because we’ve got experienced lads in our squad now.

“The ball’s in our court, because if we finish strongly we’ve got every chance of moving up the table.

“It could also be a real blessing that three of those games are at home, because teams don’t like coming to the Rush Green Bowl.

“Hopefully these games will give us the chance to pick up some momentum.”

Clacton’s last game was on March 18, when goals from Kevin Coyle and substitute Jamie Beecham handed them a 2-0 victory against Kirkley and Pakefield.

It was their second success in three games, having also seen off Saffron Walden Town at the Bowl before losing at home to Gorleston.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare and a real killer, not having a game for so long,” added Shelley.

“It was especially disappointing as we’d won our previous game and felt we’d hit our stride a bit.

“It meant we’d won two out of three and even in the defeat between those victories, we knew exactly what we’d done wrong.

“Hopefully we can use this period of inactivity to our advantage, though.

“I don’t think there will be any rustiness because we’ve been training and a few of the first-teamers stretched their legs in our reserve game last Saturday.

“If anything, I’m hoping they’ll be really pumped up for it and I know the boys will be really keen to make up for our disappointing 3-1 defeat at Walsham-le-Willows (on January 7).

“We let ourselves down that day.

“It didn’t happen for us but hopefully we can put things right on Saturday.”

Clacton are still four points behind third-from-bottom rivals Wivenhoe Town, after the Dragons lost 3-1 at Ely City on Saturday.

Fourth-from-bottom Hadleigh United also lost, going down 5-2 at Thetford Town.

The Seasiders visit runaway leaders Mildenhall on Saturday week before a crucial home match against Wivenhoe on Easter Monday.

They then host Godmanchester on April 22 before finishing with a trip to basement boys Swaffham on April 29.