Lee Andrews insists no standards will be dropping at Workington Reds – whether they are relegated or not.

Reds slipped further into trouble this week, with losses at Witton Albion and then at home to South Shields on Tuesday night, leaving them firmly entrenched in the relegation zone.

But he insists that they will not give up until it is mathematically impossible to stay up and they will go again against Gainsborough on Saturday at Borough Park.

“We won’t give up until it is impossible,” said Andrews. “And even if we get beyond that and we are relegated we still have pride to play for.

“And we have to play for the supporters and for each other – we have to keep putting a shift in so there won’t be anybody throwing the towel in or letting standards slip.”

It won’t be an easy match against Gainsborough, who are still fighting for a play-off place near the top of the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

And Reds are without some key players, with skipper Gari Rowntree a doubt and Josh Calvert looking to be out for the rest of the season with a hamstring problem.

Sam Joel is another player who is struggling with a long-term injury to his back and Andrews says he will have to wait and see before naming his side, although he hopes Brad Hubbold will be back after he missed Tuesday’s game through illness.

“Gari is struggling as he might have pulled something and Josh is probably out for the season with his hamstring,” Andrews confirmed.

“Brad might be back from illness but it is Sam Joel’s back and it’s a long-standing injury. He had it when he was at Blackburn a few years ago and it seems to have come back, so we will just have to play it by ear and see how he is on Saturday.

“Gainsborough won’t be easy but it’s another game that we expect the lads to approach in the right manner.

“We need to start like we did on Tuesday with positivity and energy and it’s a game that we can go and get the result from.”

One player to shine on Tuesday was Dave Symington, back from injury and moving into the right-back position to cover.

He produced a superb cross right on the byline that went straight across the face of the goal but nobody could quite get there to poke it home.

“That’s the quality you get with Dav,” said Andrews after the game. “He did well tonight, going back in at right back and it was probably his best game since he came back into the team.

“I think there were some really good performances throughout but although we looked solid we didn’t look too likely to score going forward.

“That was pretty fruitless which is something we have to improve on.”