AFTER a 13-day break from match action, Aberystwyth Town return with a trip to face Rhyl on Friday evening - and they must avoid defeat if they are to stay out of the bottom two places in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League.

There is still everything to play for in the Play-Off Conference, with just four points separating 10th placed Aber and seventh-placed Llandudno, with just seven league matches to go.

With no action last weekend for either club, due to the Welsh Cup quarter-finals, it promises to be a tense affair at Belle Vue, where the Seasiders had been beaten 3-1 last August.

Aber got revenge in a 4-0 win in the first game on the 3G pitch at Park Avenue in October, but results have been inconsistent for both sides since.

Back-to-back defeats against Cefn Druids and Llandundo have overshadowed Matthew Bishop’s busy activity during the transfer window.

Carmarthen striker Mark Jones has followed January signings John Owen, Jamie Crowther, Malcolm Melvin, Dylan Rees and Dafydd Jones into the club for Aber’s final push.

This week, Bishop has also signed experienced defender Phil Baker on loan from The New Saints in an effort to tighten things up at the back.

With a full squad available, Bishop will once again focus on the positives from an agonising 4-3 defeat to Alan Morgan’s Llandudno last time out.

A late onslaught and a missed Luke Sherbon penalty proved costly, but the performance of debutant Mark Jones, and the three goals scored, offered Bishop cause for optimism.

“We kept going all the way to the end, which we’ll need to do every week. We didn’t give in,” he said.

“We’ll need everyone to get together from now, the fans and the players, for the rest of the season. We’ll stand together, whether we win or lose.”

He added: “Individual errors are costing us at the minute, but we have a young squad that’s developing.

“We maybe lack a bit of experience in game management overall, and should have closed the game down.

“We were so close to going top of the Play Off Conference in that game, but that wasn’t to be on the day.”

Rhyl meanwhile beat basement side Airbus UK Broughton 2-0 last time out, with striker Lewis Coyle making his debut for the Lilywhites, having started the season at Aberystwyth.

Kick-off up at Belle Vue is at 7.45pm and supporters should be at Park Avenue by 3.45pm if they wish to make the coach. A return trip will cost £10.