DEVIZES TOWN: DEVIZES captain Dave Hopkins believes the consequences will be dire for his club if they fail to lift themselves following Saturday's FA Vase defeat at the hands of Maldon Town.

Pete Tripp's side are have been dragged into a relegation dogfight during their run to the quarter-finals, and bottom two Welton and Barnstaple have shown improved form.

Hopkins was a member of the all-conquering Devizes side that finished the First Division promotion campaign unbeaten in 1999/2000 and has helped the club to back-to-back top seven finishes in the past two seasons.

But relegation back to the First Division is a very real possibility this term and Hopkins believes Devizes would struggle to regain their Premier Division status should they fall through the trap door. He said: "There is a bigger picture involved and that starts again on Saturday. We have Bath City Reserves at home and our position in the league isn't particularly good. We want all of the lads to stay and fight and get us out of the position we are in.

"If we do go down, it could mean serious repercussions with regard to the club itself.

"I wouldn't say financially we would be any worse off, but we would lose players and that would be it. We need three points on Saturday and we'll go on from there."

Hopkins, who lives in Devizes, was angry that his team-mates had not shown the required will to win in the club's biggest match since they last reached the quarter finals 22 years ago.

He felt Maldon had won the game in midfield, where both Nicky Smith and Stuart Gray were outstanding for the visitors. Said Hopkins: "We let ourselves down and weren't at the races.

"The battle was lost in midfield. They had two guys in their mid to late-30s and they were spreading it around and had good shape. Our three lads in midfield were a lot younger than them and looked like boys out there."

Far from pointing the finger of blame at any one individual, Hopkins believes the team should shoulder a collective responsibility. He said: "It was a great chance for us to get to the semi-finals. But our heads went down after the first goal.

"The second goal was down to myself, I'll hold my hands up. I've miscontrolled the ball and the guy has hit a 25-yarder into the top corner.

The quarter final clash attracted just under 500 fans, with more than 100 making the trip from Essex to support Maldon. Hopkins admitted he was disappointed by the turnout after his side's heroics at Clitheroe last month.

He said: "It was good to have a reasonable crowd, but I would have expected a few more for a quarter final tie in the FA Vase. But I've played for Devizes for years and we never have been a really well supported team."