POOLE Town boss Tom Killick backed his players to cope with the pressure of their season-defining battle against Oxford City on Saturday (3pm).

Relegation-threatened Dolphins go into the National South contest at Black Gold Stadium knowing a result elsewhere could determine their fate.

While Killick’s troops must beat City, they are also relying on Hungerford Town slipping up at East Thurrock United.

Should those two incidents occur, Dolphins would leapfrog the Crusaders in the table and secure a third campaign in the division.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “We would rather be in a situation where we had the points and you could almost lose and stay up.

“But in terms of pressure, I would say there was a little bit taken off us and a little more on Hungerford’s shoulders.

“They are in a position where, at the moment, they are safe and that could change. That is something we perhaps have to cling on to.

“I can’t remember a season where we have gone into the last few games with things not riding on them.

“We have wrapped up leagues and other bits and pieces before the end of the season but, by and large, we have had to deal with pressured situations in all of the years I have been here.

“We have experience of this and it makes it slightly easier to cope with. When you look at it, you could say there is a bit of pressure taken off because we are not in control of our own destiny.

“We just have to go out and try to win the game. Psychologically, you have to try to look at the positive elements of it.”

Dolphins were eight points adrift of safety with five games of their campaign remaining following defeat at Chelmsford City earlier this month.

They have since sealed victories over Wealdstone and Concord Rangers as well as picking up a point against Whitehawk on Tuesday.

Having cut the difference to a solitary point, Killick believes his current squad deserve to stay in the division.

He added: “This group of players as they are now – albeit we only have 14 fit and one is an under-18 lad – should be in this league. They are good enough to be in this league.

“It’s not this group of players that have caused us difficulties, it’s the lack of strength we had perhaps earlier on in the season when we were suffering from injuries.

“The group of players we had up until recently hadn’t been good enough. That is because my recruitment hadn’t been good enough.

“That is how it is and the players will fight. I am confident they can get a positive result against Oxford, it’s what happens elsewhere which is the concern.”

Striker Warren Bentley struck a double and Jez Bedford was also on target when Dolphins overcame Oxford 3-2 earlier in the season.

Dolphins (from): Hutchings, Moore, Smeeton, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer, Walker, Balmer, Devlin, Constable, Brooks, Bentley Rees, Alawode-Williams, Leslie-Smith, Gillespie.