Manager Matt Elliott has insisted that keeping Stafford Rangers in the Blue Square North would rank as highly as any of his achievements in the game.

Elliott twice won the League Cup with Leicester and was capped 18 times by Scotland as a player, but is adamant that helping Rangers pull off the Great Escape would mean just as much to him.

His side need to win at Stalybridge Celtic in Saturday’s last game of the season and hope Hyde pick up no more than a point against Corby for that to become a reality.

But Elliott has also stated that he will not consider survival as mainly down to him if it comes to pass.

He said: “In some ways, it’s all relative, but it’s the involvement. I get as excited beating Corby last Saturday as a manager than I did, for instance, winning at home to Liverpool as a player.

“It’s not about the past, it’s the here and now, but I enjoy a victory as much as anyone else does. In some ways, it’s even more rewarding, because there’s a different type of focus when you are managing.

“If we can pull it off at the weekend, it would be brilliant. But I wouldn’t think of it as a personal achievement, it would be great for us as a group.”

Tumbling into the third tier of non-league football for the first time since 1996 would be an about turn for Rangers, who three years ago were in the Blue Square Premier and are two-time FA Trophy winners.

Once of the region’s flagship teams outside of the Football League, past glories has become a distant memory at Marston Road, where survival has been key for each of the past three seasons.

And Elliott, who took charge in January, has reminded his players they have a duty to preserve the club’s heritage.

He said: “It doesn’t seem right that Stafford Rangers are in the position they are in, but all I can say is that we are going to give it our utmost to ensure that relegation isn’t the case.

“It would be a big blow for everybody concerned – players, staff, chairman, directors and obviously supporters.

“It would be such a shame but, hopefully, we can do something about it.”