SALISBURY City player-coach Tommy Widdrington refuses to accept that the Whites are now playing merely for a play-off place - despite table-toppers Histon enjoying a handsome ten-point lead ahead of today's Conference South fixtures.

Widdrington was delighted with Wednesday evening's 2-1 victory at fellow promotion hopefuls Welling United, which ended City's barren run of four games without a goal.

Histon visit Old Sarum on Monday for a game that had been billed as the title decider prior to Salisbury's sequence of results that delivered just five points in six games.

However, Widdrington says it ain't over till it's over and insists that a win at Sutton United today and another at home to the leaders would put Histon under intense pressure in the final weeks of the campaign.

Widdrington, along with City boss Nick Holmles had watched Histon pick up three points at the expense of Cambridge City on Tuesday, but speaking on Wednesday night, immediately after Salisbury's win at Welling, Widdrington said: "They looked like they were going to win the league last night at half-past-ten when we were coming back. But tonight at half-past ten it's different.

"It's like I said to Nick...if we don't win at Welling we have to start planning for the play-offs. But we've won at Welling and there's the chance of a six-point swing because we play Histon in the second game coming up.

"They've got a game at home to Bognor Regis Town on Saturday - if they don't win that game...I know we have to go to Sutton and win if we've still got aspirations of winning the league...now if that happens it's back on, because if we won on Monday we'd then only be four points behind. The scenarios are there and as we've seen in the last few weeks it changes very quickly.

"Admittedly Histon have done ever so well in the league during the last month - their form has been the best out of everybody in the league - but if we can go on a little run ourselves and put in a few W's in the column...I'd love to push them all the way to the end because if we beat them on Monday it opens up all sorts of scenarios.

"Of course we have to win at Sutton first - if we don't, we're giving Histon a little bit more of a leg-up.

"But I haven't ruled out our chances of winning the league yet.

"Because there's two games in three days it can have a huge psychological swing. If they beat Bognor they'll be thinking they've got one foot over the line."

Although disappointed by it, Widdrington had not been overly concerned by City's failure to score in 426 minutes of play before Robbie Matthews levelled on Wednesday night at Welling.

"Strangely enough in those 426 minutes, we could have scored as many goals as we had done in the previous 426 and hopefully in the next 400-odd minutes, so although it's a statistic I don't like, it's one we have to take on the chin. Hopefully the couple of goals we've got today will move us back to the way we are."

While City's away form stands up to scrutiny, their home form has been hit and miss of late.

"It's strange that we've been scoring more goals away than we have at home this season, which is brilliant. I think we've scored more goals away than anyone else, but we haven't scored enough at home.

"But the reasons for that, as everybody should have realised, are that a lot of our goal-getters have missed games.

"Marvin's (Brown) come in, scored a couple of goals then unfortunately missed the next four or five games. Paul's (Sales) missed the last three or four and obviously we all know about (Matt) Tubbsy's problems with the red cards. So we've had 50-60 goals sitting in the stands and it's hard to replace that.

"It's very, very difficult - the lads have tried manfully.

"The good thing about tonight's performance is that they've believed in what we do.

"We've gone back to doing what we do best - and looked like a team with our Salisbury stamp on it.

"The credit they should take from tonight is that their manager's come up to me after the game and said: 'you were by far the better side and desrved to win the match.' "That's the best accolade they can be given really."

Widdrington accepts that City's fixture backlog following highly successful FA Cup and FA Trophy runs has played a part in their recent poor results.

"It's been hard. Monday night was the first training session I've been able to do because we've been playing every Tuesday, then just ticking over on a Thursday.

"But we had a fully functional training session on Monday where I've been able to work with the lads and say: ' this is what I want you to do' and they've done that tonight and it's testament to them that they've kept the faith in what we've been trying to do in the last 18 months or so that I've been here.

"We always say that over the course of a season, you'll get what you deserve.

"Tonight they showed huge amounts of courage and spirit to stay at it when they were 1-0 down at half-time and I'm delighted for them."

Widdrington, like all City supporters at the game, was thrilled by Luke Prince's wonder strike that secured the points.

"A goal like that deserves to win any game. His goal was as good as Robbie's was bad!"

But Widdrington would surely settle for the same again when City run out at Sutton United this afternoon.

Kick off is at 3pm.