Boss Cliff Humphreys is certain Wisbech's bad luck is coming to an end after they slipped to a controversial defeat at the weekend.

The Harecroft Road club lost 8-3 at home to the league leaders South Woodham Ferrers as their winless streak stretched to five matches.

A losing bonus point was scant consolation for a Wisbech outfit who believed they were not awarded two tries on the day — therefore robbing them of a shock win — much to the dismay of Humphreys.

He said: 'The facts say we haven't scored a try in three matches but we crossed the line twice on Saturday and neither of them were given.

'The referee didn't have a brilliant game but you'd have expected him to have seen, like so many others at the game, that the ball touched down on two occasions. But he didn't. The luck really isn't with us at the moment.

'Having pushed South Woodham to the limit in both of our games against them suggests our ability is not far off and the lads are motivated. Our luck will turn, it has to. They knew they had been very lucky to come away with the win.'

Wisbech's slide down the London North-East Division three table sees them sitting just one place, and one point, outside the relegation zone.

Humphreys admits his men are now in a 'relegation dogfight' and need to start turning some improved displays into vital wins to prevent them slipping out of London NE Div 3 for the second time in three seasons.

'There's no two ways about it, it's going to be a close-run thing,' said the Wisbech manager.

'It's concerning that we've not won for a while but we've got a group of 20-25 players who appear to be up for the scrap. We've got some physical ones returning too.

'Josh Searle should now be available for the rest of the season and he's got some big qualities. He's a winger who just bounces people off him. We're hoping to take 16 of the same 18 who played on Saturday with us tomorrow. A bit of continuity should help us.'

Wisbech, ninth in the 12-team league, visit Upminster, fourth, tomorrow. Hooker Nathaniel Humphreys (dead leg) and second row Ben Chapman (ribs) are injury doubts. Richard Cavill is available for selection again after completing his two-week suspension.