Countdown to the end of the season

With 12 games left, their fate is very much in their own hands and the countdown to reach the play-off places starts tomorrow with a trip to high-flying Cambridge City.

A week later, St Albans are the visitors to the Camrose, when Ernie Howe's men will look to improve on a 2-1 away defeat last October, in which Neville Roach scored Town's lone strike.

March begins with an away trip to Bognor Regis Town - defeated 2-1 earlier in the season thanks to Town's Argentinians Sergio Torres and Cristian Levis.

Basingstoke then play host to third-placed Lewes, which should prove a tough match - this notion further implied by Town's hard-fought goalless draw with them early in December.

Two months earlier, the Sussex club made a cup trip to the Camrose and lost 2-1, with Levis and Martin Whiddett hitting the back of the net.

Nothing is certain in football but, as Town look to reach the promotion places, maximum points in away trips to Hayes and Welling United would need to be taken.

Both suffered early season defeats at the Camrose - Welling providing Town with their biggest win of the season, a fantastic four-goal walloping.

Alongside this, Town will look for payback against Weston-Super-Mare, who, in the fourth game of the season, inflicted Basingstoke's only loss during August's fixtures, with a 2-1 result in Somerset.

Since then, Weston have dropped five points below their Hampshire counterparts to 12th position.

The April countdown to the end of the season commences with the visit of Redbridge to the Camrose.

The sides met on the opening day of the season at the Camrose, with the home side winning 3-0 thanks to a Levis hat-trick.

Basingstoke hope to end their campaign the way they started, but should be cautious of a bottom-of-the-table Redbridge looking for revenge and playing for pride.

Away trips during the final month of the season include matches against mid-table Sutton United and Dorchester Town.

Basingstoke narrowly defeated Sutton in August, thanks to a Whiddett goal in a 1-0 victory, but were held to a 2-2 draw three months later against Dorchester.

These two fixtures are divided by the visit of Bishop's Stortford on April 16, who were humiliated at home in a three-goal thrashing by Town.

Nevertheless, their mid-table position must be respected and they are not a team to be underestimated.

The season comes to an end on the last day of April in possibly the greatest challenge of all the remaining fixtures - at home to Thurrock.

Hopefully, Town can pick up enough points to secure a place in the play-offs and win the chance to reach the Nationwide Conference.