Caersws boss Graham Evans has challenged his players to prove they can ‘win ugly’ when they travel to fellow strugglers Queens Park in a crunch clash at the foot of the Huws Gray Alliance this Saturday(2pm).

Both sides have endured difficult starts to the campaign, but a win for the Bluebirds will put clear daylight between them and the bottom two and provide a timely pre-christmas morale boost in their bid to move away from trouble.

“It's vital that we win and get the three points to be honest, given the position of both clubs,” said Evans, speaking to the County Times this week.

“It's been a frustrating and difficult opening few months of the season but I'm pleased with how we've regrouped over the past few weeks. The performances have been good and the spirit and the vibe in the dressing room and the attitude shown by the players has been much better so we need that to continue.

“We've proved we can play against the better teams in the league and how we've not got points to show from our last few performances I don't know, but that's how it is sometimes when you're down at the bottom and things aren't quite going for you.”

The Bluebirds had to battle back to earn a 2-2 draw when the sides last met at The Rec back in August, Rhydian Davies on target in the dying moments of the game to earn a share of the opening day spoils, after Queens Park’s Helder Ramos and substitute John Edwards had cancelled out Ross Stephens’ first half opener.

And Evans is expecting a similarly physical challenge from the Wrexham outfit, who groundshare with National League side Lex Glyndwr.

“We've played Queens Park earlier in the year and they've shown how difficult they can be to play against. We know they're a physical side and at their place it's going to be tough on a heavy, wet pitch which will probably suit them more than it will suit us, but we've shown we can compete with the best teams in this league so it's up to us to go and get a result,” added Evans.

Caersws are still without injured Jack Hughes (achilles) and Tom Bethell (back), but are otherwise at full strength.