TOM Killick insists tomorrow's clash with Whitehawk is the most important of his glittering 14-year spell in charge of Poole Town, revealing: "Survival means more to me than people would ever envisage."

Killick, who has steered Poole to four promotions and five league titles across more than 750 games in charge, is desperately trying to coax his team to safety in their second straight season in National South.

Dolphins host doomed Whitehawk (7.45pm) knowing defeat could send them down, depending on the outcome of the fixture between Concord Rangers and Hungerford Town – the two other sides attempting to avoid the drop.

But by the same token, victory could lift Poole out of the relegation zone and put their destiny back in their own hands ahead of their final league game of the season against visitors Oxford City on Saturday.

Asked if it would be the biggest night of his epic tenure, Killick told the Daily Echo: "In a lot of ways I would have to say yes but it's not just one game, it's both games.

"In terms of my personal feelings, it is the biggest because I am so desperate for this group of players and the club to remain at this level. It means more to me than people would ever envisage.

"But we can't get too carried away with all that. We have to play with intelligence and a calmness in terms of our decision-making and approach to the game. That's something we must not lose sight of.

"You can't get too emotional. It's about having a balance and that's what we have to try to achieve.

"We know there is still an awful lot to do. The odds are stacked against us but we have given ourselves a fighting chance.

"The pendulum has swung our way a bit but we would still rather be in Concord or Hungerford's positions. I think that is the realistic way of looking at it.

"We have prolonged it and have put pressure on those teams and we have to try to produce a home performance against Whitehawk."

Killick admits he will monitor the scoreline of Concord's clash with Hungerford, in much the same way he kept track of Hungerford's fortunes against Whitehawk on Saturday – the latter side prevailing 1-0 after finding a late winner.

He said: "We will concentrate first and foremost on ourselves but there has to be a bit of reflection in terms of what is happening in the other game.

"We kept an eye on the Hungerford scoreline on Saturday because there could have been situations where we would have needed to send the goalkeeper up and all sorts.

"We had to rein that in a bit because we couldn't afford to throw it away with Hungerford losing, whereas if they had been winning, it would have been different."