BRADFORD (Park Avenue) manager Mark Bower believes tomorrow's home game with Gloucester City is their most important of the season "by a million miles" and he said they will require miracles to survive if they do come away with nothing.

Avenue sit rock-bottom of the Vanarama National League North, a whole 12 points off safety. Gloucester are that team who are a dozen points ahead, but they are on an awful run, losing eight of their last nine games.

Bower did nothing to downplay the significance of the match, saying: "We've got to win the game, that's our only thought going into it.

"We're at the point now where we've got be winning games to stand any chance of staying up. If we lose this one, you're going to need miracles.

"Everyone's focused on winning but we're really looking forward to it, as everyone believes we're better than our results show.

"We would hope to go on a little run if we win this one, just to back up last week's draw at Southport. It's our biggest game of the season by a million miles."

Bower and his side are feeling positive, but he does admit that Gloucester are still a team to be wary of, despite their poor form.

He said: "They have some good players, like their centre-half Liam Daly, who was at Solihull Moors last season when they were sat near the top of the National League.

"But they're in a transitional period at the moment. They changed their manager a few months ago and they've had a lot of comings and goings in terms of signings, so the team are probably getting to know each other.

"They've got good players but are on a bad run. They're capable of ending that, I just hope it's not against us."

Avenue crucially snapped their own two game losing run in last weekend's thrilling 3-3 draw at Southport.

Asked whether the result proves Bradford can mix it with the big boys in the league, Bower said: "You've seen that recently, but we've just not had the luck.

"Southport aren't doing as well as some of the others we've played in the last couple of months, so we maybe got away with one or two defensive errors and exploited them more going forward.

"I thought we matched them well. Having watched it back, I felt it was a game we should have won, but one we could easily have lost too."

They came extremely close to losing it right at the death, with full-back Stelios Demetriou receiving a 90th minute red card for bringing down an opponent who was through on goal.

Bower said: "You could argue that their player wasn't going directly towards goal and that we might have had cover. We were hoping for the benefit of the doubt but, as is often the case this season, the decision went against us.

"He'll miss this one game against Gloucester, but his position is one area where we have cover. Billy Priestley, Nicky Clee and Mitch Lund could all fill in.

"Everyone else is fit but we're still dealing with having a small squad. We hope to bring in one or two players this week, but I wouldn't bank on it."