Deeping Rangers beat Gresley Rovers in the United Counties League

Back-to-back wins have boosted Deeping Rangers' hopes of avoiding relegation from the top flight of the United Counties League.

The Clarets followed up last week's home win over Kimberley Miners Welfare with a 1-0 victory against Gresley Rovers at the Haydon Whitham Stadium on Saturday.

Oleksandr Muzychuk's second half strike secured the success which moved Rangers above their defeated visitors and three points clear of the danger zone.

It was a far from vintage display by Deeping but the importance and manner of the win pleased manager Brett Whaley.

He said: "There was jeopardy on the game and everyone knows going into it what the league table looks like.

"We've played better than Saturday in games and haven't won them. We haven't been able to get a horrible 1-0 win.

"I would say it's something that we haven't had in our locker but, because of how hard the squad is working, they are becoming a team and sometimes those scrappy 1-0 wins are as good and you enjoy them as much as the 4-1 win from the previous week.

"Ultimately, however we got there, it's six points in two games in a really big part of the season.

"The boys have really come together.

"We've shown two different performances in the past week - it was a scrappy and dogged win on Saturday after a good performance the previous weekend.

"They have shown me everything in those two games to make me believe that we can get plenty of points between now and the end of the season."

Rangers had the better chances in a goalless first half with Byron Adiado having one effort ruled out for offside.

Josh Moreman headed a good opening over the crossbar while James Stainsby was unable to convert from Adiado's cross.

Sam Moore was off target with a header for the visitors after the break while Jack Thatcher saw an effort blocked by Deeping goalkeeper Aaron Butcher.

The decisive goal arrived with seven minutes remaining when Muzychuk drove home an excellent strike to settle a tense tussle.

Whaley added: "It was a pretty poor game of football and you could see that both sides were nervous.

"It looked like both sides were scared of losing rather than trying to win the game.

"People know that if you make a mistake then it can be really costly.

"We look a lot more like a team now though and five out of our last six performances have been better."

Deeping play the first of back-to-back games against Newark and Sherwood on Saturday when they host the Highwaymen at the Haydon Whitham Stadium.