GERRY Luczka has warned his tired Radcliffe Borough players they could get battered at Halifax tonight if they do not pick up their game.

Boro slumped to their second consecutive defeat in disappointing style at home to an in-form Salford City side who notched their fifth win on the bounce at Stainton Park on Tuesday night.

That came on the back of a 1-0 reverse against Mossley on Saturday, and Luczka now takes his men to The Shay to face an FC Halifax Town side who are unbeaten at home and have lost only two matches all season.

“If we play like that, we’ll get taken to the cleaners at Halifax,” Luczka said, after watching City’s former Boro striker Steve Foster notch a brace and captain Martyn Andrews give the visitors a comfortable 3-1 win.

What concerned Luczka more than anything else was his side’s lack of cutting edge, although striker Mark Connor scored his first goal for the club in the absence of the suspended Ben Wharton.

Otherwise, Wharton was sorely missed, as Luczka acknowledged.

“Ben’s probably done more for himself missing the last four games than he could have done if he had been playing,” the Boro boss said.

“We missed his aggression, his running and his desire. His movement off the ball is terrific. I think in the last two games, we’ve only made the keeper make one save, which says it all.

“I’ve told the lads that if they don’t want to embarrass themselves at Halifax, they had better gee themselves up.

“At the end of the day, they’ve put an honest shift in. You can’t knock them. They’ve given their all, they’re doing their best and they’ve taken us to where we are now.

“We’ve worked so hard since Christmas to get ourselves up the table, but we’ve come up a little bit short in recent matches.

“The lads have just got to dig in and keep going until the end of the season and give us something to build on.”