Flanagan’s Onions could be without their key striker Keston Lewis when they face Devonshire Cougars in a do-or-die match at Goose Gosling Field tonight.

Lewis limped off in Onions’ 5-1 defeat to Robin Hood last weekend and did not train this week.

“We’re expecting a late fitness test,” Mick Ward, the Onions coach, said. “He didn’t feature in training this week and I haven’t had a proper chance to catch up with him.”

Onions need a victory against title-chasing Cougars if they are to close the gap on Somerset Trojans, realistically the only team they can catch after Boulevard’s win over bottom team Young Men’s Social Club last weekend virtually made them safe.

They have 18 points and are ten points clear of Onions in the second relegation spot and with just four games remaining.

Onions have the worst defensive record, having now conceded 50 goals in the campaign, although they were involved in two high-scoring draws against Somerset (3-3) and X-Roads (4-4) that denied them valuable victories. They have scored just 19 times in the league, the second worst record in the division.

“One of our issues this season has been scoring enough goals and we need to put that burden on other players if Keston is out,” Ward said. “There were games that we did score goals but didn’t pick up the victories, which was frustrating.

“We’ve got four games left and are seven points adrift so we need to catch up, get [at least] seven points out of the 12 and relying on other teams to drop points which isn’t ideal.

“We’re not happy to be in the position we’re in but we’ve been coming to training and going through our training as we normally do, so I wouldn’t say spirits are too low.

“We are obviously focusing on this season, we want to stay up and we’ll look at next season once the season finishes.”

Onions have eight points and Trojans 15 with four games remaining, an eight-point gap that will be difficult for Onions to close with three matches to come after today against X-Roads, Boulevard and Dandy Town.

An important match at the other end of the table is also scheduled for today, with leaders PHC Zebras travelling to the East End to meet mid-table X-Roads at Garrison Field. PHC opened a three-point lead with Cougars’ victory over Dandy Town last weekend, although just four points still separate the top four teams. They have games to come against Boulevard, Cougars and Social Club.

Town and North Village will be hoping to bounce back after their losses last weekend, with Town at home to Boulevard and Village taking on Social Club at Police Field. In the other match Trojans host Hood who are now back in second place.

After this weekend Hood will play Village, Social Club and Boulevard in their last three matches.

One First Division match is scheduled for today, with Paget Lions taking on Southampton Rangers at Southampton Oval in a crucial promotion battle that will also serve as a preview to their upcoming FA Cup semi-final tie in ten days time.

Paget are second in the table and Rangers third, two points behind and a further point behind the leaders BAA in the three-team race for two spots.

BAA play Wolves tomorrow at home while the other matches pit St George’s against St David’s in an East End derby while bottom team Hamilton Parish go in search of only their second win this season when they play Devonshire Colts at Police Field.

Parish claimed that first win when they beat St David’s 3-1 last weekend. Ireland Rangers, third from bottom, play Somerset Eagles at Malabar Field.