CARL Macauley has claimed that a victory at Farsley Celtic is imperative for Witton Albion to remain in contention for a promotion play-offs place.

His side travels to Leeds tonight, Thursday, nine points adrift of their fifth-placed hosts who have won three successive matches in the Northern Premier League since Albion drew with Warrington last week.

The visitors have a game in hand.

"For us it's probably a must-win game," admitted Macauley.

"I think three points would help us a lot, and that's what we'll go for. We have to."

Witton were due to play Marine last Saturday, only for overnight rain to prompt a postponement the following morning.

It was the only scheduled Premier Division fixture not to take place.

Macauley said: "It's frustrating, of course, because after a picking up four points over Easter we were feeling good.

"There's a knock-on effect to because that's another game to squeeze into an already-busy schedule.

"That presents a challenge for us now because we can't expect lads to play in every game and be in peak condition.

"It won't change our plan [for Farsley] though; that's something we'd already worked on and the fact they've continued to put points on the board doesn't impact on that part of our game."

Witton will be boosted by the return after an injury of winger Owen Dale, who has missed the past five games.

Prince Haywood is back too after sitting out both games at Easter due to work commitments.

Macauley said: "We're going to need everybody, and the lads know we've got no option but to rotate.

"It's physically draining to play Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday and then again the following weekend.

"As a side that likes to counter-attack at speed, we already ask a lot of these player and demand that they play at a high tempo.

"We'll try to keep on doing that as best we can because it's our biggest strength."

Meanwhile Farsley, who have former Northwich Victoria manager Adam Lakeland at the helm, followed a 4-0 win over Whitby Town last Thursday with a similarly emphatic success at Stalybridge Celtic last weekend.

A 2-1 victory away to Workington on Tuesday has moved them clear of Witton.