MARK Collier is one manager who will be happy to enter the final weeks of the season with nothing to play for.

His Supermarine side occupy the void between the drop zone and mid-table obscurity and the latter sounds an appealing proposition.

Marine have made a habit of sealing survival with late-season heroics during their three years in the Southern League. But Collier would rather be in the comfort zone by the end of April than basking in the glory of another act of escapology.

"I don't want to be going into the last day of the season needing a result to stay up," said Collier.

"Credit to the lads that have done that before but I'm not interested in that sort of glory.

"I want us to be in a safe position long before then.

"We have to be wary that a couple of bad results and we are right in it and have a fight on our hands."

Marine face Oxford City away tomorrow the second time the sides have met this month as the fixture computer tries to prise all the club's derbies this season into a four-week period.

The reverse meeting finished 1-0 to Marine and was their last league outing following the postponement of the trip to Paulton last week.

That was a cancellation Collier could have done without.

"We won the previous game so confidence was high and we wanted to keep the run going," he said.

"Oxford is a big game, not just because of local rivalry, but because we need the points.

"We've already beaten them once a few weeks ago and the first goal will be very important again."

The extra week off has done little to change availability issues at Hunts Copse, with Sam Collier, Dave Gee and Dave Hunt all still nursing injuries but Tony Joyce is available again.