A determined Dario Gradi has told crewealex.net that he and his squad have not given up on reaching the top 7 this season. The Alex boss admits that time is running out for his team following just one win in the last eight games, but he is convinced that there is still enough talent in the dressing room to embark on a sustained run of form.

After succeeding Gudjon Thordarson as manager in October, the vastly experienced Gradi was confident that with a few tweaks here and there, the class of 2010 could gatecrash the play-off places.

Dario knows his side will have to start turning some draws into wins and losses into draws, if we are going to make it a season to remember.

Dario told crewealex.net: "I certainly haven't given up on the play-offs because I know this team has enough talent to go on an unbeaten run. It wouldn't surprise me if they did go on a run of a number of games without a defeat, but it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't either.

"That inconsistency has been our problem but this team is capable of doing it and making it a season to remember. No-one can fault their application or effort. What we have done is to make too many mistakes and not enjoyed the rub of the green in certain matches.

"We certainly needed a bit of luck going up against a confident side, top of the league side,  but we didn't get it on Saturday. We lost Zola after a couple of minutes, had a penalty not given and then scored an own goal a minute into the second half, in bizarre circumstances.

"To a certain extent you do make your own luck and hopefully ours will change on Friday night. One thing is for sure, I haven't given up and neither have the players because we think we are a better team than our league position suggests at the moment."