MANAGER Neil Hards is convinced it's do or die for Winchester City in tomorrow's title showdown with Lymington & New Milton, but Linnets chairman John Mills is not so sure.

Victory for the New Forest club would put them six points clear of the defending champions and seemingly out of sight, but Mills still errs on the side of caution.

He said: "Personally I'm not viewing this as THE one. I said a few weeks back that there would be some twists and turns along the way and I think there are more to come.

"We've still got some tough fixtures left. Three of our last five games are against top teams - Winchester, Thatcham and Gosport, another's against Moneyfields, who are one of the form sides right now, and the other's a local derby against Christchurch which is never easy. I think it's still very open, I honestly do. You've only got to have one slip-up and everything changes.

"It's not easy at this stage of the season. The pitches are hard, the players are tired and, if you look at our squad, we haven't got many with experience of winning things.

"But the way I look at it, whether we win the league or not, we've still had a brilliant season."

The same could be said of Winchester City, who have somehow managed to stay the course despite recent upheavals.

"Given what's gone on there, they've done remarkably well to still be involved," Mills observed. "In fact, I think that if they do win the league it would be a bigger achievement than last year."

Having watched his team slip three points adrift of Lymington with a 2-1 defeat at Hamworthy last Saturday, Hards reckons Winchester are drinking in the last chance saloon tomorrow.

"We've got to pack our six-shooters and go for it ," he said. "If we don't, we can kiss the league goodbye.

"We're letting ourselves down a bit on the pitch at the moment, but these last few months have taken their toll not just on me, but on the players too. There have been a lot of comings and goings and stuff happening off the pitch which has been hard to control.

"Lymington are favourites tomorrow because they haven't lost in the league since January, so we've got to make sure we've got the backbone and stomach for the fight.

"After all we've come through together, it would be a shame if we let ourselves down in what has become the biggest game of the season."

Both clubs had their grounds inspected by an FA/Southern League grading team on Monday and it appears neither has any major work outstanding for promotion.

With a new stand erected, Winchester now have enough seating and covered accommodation for the next level and have only minor jobs to do such as emergency exit signs, hand rails in the toilets and a writing surface for the press.

Lymington chairman Mills, in plaster with a ruptured Achilles, could not attend the inspection but said: "On the face of it, there doesn't seem anything huge to do. In fact they said our dressing rooms were among the best they'd seen.

"We need disabled facilties, a new turnstile, which is already in hand, the dugouts have got to be extended and we need smaller things like exit signs, a press table, a first aid table and an additional shower head in each dressing room, plus a bit more hard standing behind the dugouts.

"There's nothing, as I see it, that we wouldn't be able to get done."

Lymington's biggest concern was that they would need fencing on the far side of the pitch which backs onto private land, but Mills said: "They're not worried about that for now, but we'd need it if ever we wanted to get into the Conference."

Linnets should be at full strength tomorrow while City have their fingers crossed that Liam Green (hamstring), Adam Rogers (medial ligaments) and Jamie Austen (back) will be fit to play.