BRADFORD (Park Avenue) striker Oli Johnson says his side owe it to the fans to keep fighting for survival.

Their plight in National League North looks bleak - 13 points off safety and effectively 14 due to their -52 goal difference.

Avenue must earn at least five wins from their remaining 15 fixtures to have a chance of beating the drop.

That means they will have to reverse their current form of only taking a point from their last seven fixtures which have included a 5-0 pasting at Farsley and a 3-0 drumming against Spennymoor.

Mark Bower’s men travel to Altrincham this weekend hoping they can replicate the shock win produced last December when Tom Clare and Johnson strikes saw them capture a 2-0 victory.

The latter, who re-joined the club halfway through this season, admits Bradford are a long way from the team he starred in last term which reached the play-offs.

The forward was pivotal in that brilliant run to seventh but has only netted twice in his 15 appearances this campaign.

Johnson admits a lack of cutting edge has put them in this position, but the 32-year-old poacher doesn’t believe Avenue’s overall performances merit a bottom placing in the league.

He said: "It is a bit different from last season when we were riding high but that is just the task at hand.

"We are giving away soft goals but we are not scoring either or creating enough chances.

"We have had a big challenge trying to get out of the bottom two but it has not really gone how we wanted so far.

"We feel like we have been really unlucky, decisions with refs, and a few games where we have not scored the goal when we are on top.

"We don’t think we are a team who should be rooted at the bottom on performances but on results we are.

"We’ve just got to keep going and you never know.

"The gaffer said he believes we can get out of it based on our performances,

"We have got to never say die - we owe it to ourselves and to the fans to keep the belief going."

Bradford were last in action against third-placed Brackley Town at Horsfall where they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 result.

Johnson, who completed the full 90 minutes up front, says soft defence meant his side left themselves too much to do facing a team who had only conceded 15 goals before the encounter.

He said: "I think when it boils down to it we have given away two really soft goals.

"If that doesn’t happen and we get in 0-0 at half time, we would have been pleased.

"We more than matched them in the first half and were arguably the better team.

"We got the consolation but I just fell if we stayed in the game at 1-0 we could be coming away with a point.

"We get on the edge of the box, but we are just not cute enough and that comes from being at the bottom.

"Sometimes it is hit and hope and we just need that composure.

"We have got talented players going forward.

"We are just disappointed not to come away with more points over the festive period and coming into January."