BRADFORD club Albion Sports are in limbo, not knowing whether a 5-0 defeat at Barton Town on Tuesday night has condemned them to relegation from the NCEL Premier Division.

Albion needed a draw to escape the dreaded bottom two, after relegation rivals Hemsworth Miners Welfare won their last four games to finish third-bottom, but they were thumped.

Weary Albion manager Riz Mohammed admitted: "There's a lot going on with relegation.

"I believe Staveley have asked for voluntary relegation from the league, and because some of the second-bottom clubs won't go down if their points per game (PPG) is good enough, I'd told the lads it was about the points we finished on, rather than our position.

"We've ended up on 0.86 PPG, which isn't bad, and it's better than a lot of others at Step 5 in the bottom two of their leagues.

"So there is a possible reprieve for us, but obviously we'd have liked to have done it ourselves (by finishing outside the bottom two)."

It hasn't been the easiest season for Mohammed, who took over at Albion in November following the exits of Danny Brown and Ishy Hussain, who had overseen nine straight league defeats.

He said: "We had had a bad run when I first took over, so I needed to make a lot of changes and bring in some unity and players with character.

"We brought a lot back who had been at the club before, and we started okay, but we picked up injuries and suspensions and some of the team left as it was now new management.

"Between December and February too, we had a period where we only had six or seven games, where we'd play one week, then not be in action for another three weeks.

"It was too stop-start, and then from March, for six weeks, we were playing twice a week."

On the battle between themselves and Hemsworth, Mohammed said: "I couldn't really get the players I necessarily wanted by coming in mid-season, whereas when Wayne Benn left the Ossett job in December, a lot of those who left Hemsworth to join him there went back.

"That meant their squad towards the end had quality from higher divisions, whereas I didn't have that luxury, and needed to rely on young, local talent."

Mohammed added: "It's been hard this season, with a bit of a lack of discipline and structure at the club.

"But the guys have given it 110 per cent, and if we hadn't had four players away on a stag do, which was booked before they joined Albion, we might not have lost that key game to Hemsworth last month.

"It was a valiant effort and we'd done well to hold off that Hemsworth pressure until the very end."

On the future, Mohammed admitted: "I've had messages from some of the lads saying they're 100 per cent committed going forward, but it's too early to make big plans.

"It's a bit of a waiting game and I've not spoken to all of them, but some might want to play at a higher level.

"I'm hoping to stick around, but the job has taken a toll on my family.

"I have the backing of the club and committee, who've been very supportive, and complimentary about how we played towards the end of the season.

"We'll have to wait and see, but I know I'm in need of this holiday now."