Marcus Garnham has pulled no punches over AFC Sudbury’s perilous position and says now is the time for the team to stand up and be counted.

The west Suffolk side have slipped into the bottom four of the Ryman Premier Division recently, and face a battle to retain their status, less than a year after being promoted from Ryman North.

Last weekend’s 6-0 thumping at Havant & Waterlooville didn’t help their cause and they go into tomorrow’s home game with Harrow Borough having lost five of their last six games.

“If we don’t get any wins over the next six or seven games then it will get tougher and tougher for us and we could end up needing to win at Canvey on the final day of the season,” said goalkeeper Garnham.

“Teams around us are winning, but we need to keep going and believing we can do it.

“That has got to be the attitude. If we go into games thinking we can’t get something out of them, then there is no point and we might as well pack it in now.”

Sudbury are third from bottom in the table and two points from safety, with eight games left to play, having gradually dropped down the table during the campaign.

“We have teetered on the edge for a while but not dropped into the bottom-four, but we have to win games now,” Garnham explained.

“It’s time for the young lads to step up.

“They have done well but they need to push it that extra 20 per cent, as some of them might not get to play the chance to play at this level again.

“I might not get to play at this level again either, no-one is going to want to sign me if I don’t put in good performances.”

Garnham was part of the team that won promotion last season, manager Jamie Godbold the man at the helm, having previously been in charge at Kirkley & Pakefield.

“The manager has backed us and not been overly critical of us in the media this season,” explained Garnham.

“It’s time to repay his faith in us as some (players) have not turned up and we have had to carry them in some games this season.

“I have had my off-games too, I am not perfect, but the minimum the players should be putting in is 100 per cent.”