EVER the optimist, Hereford United's Director of Football Graham Turner is still not throwing in the towel on their Nationwide Conference title chances.

The Bulls' hopes were surely ended by this week's shock 4-2 home defeat against lowly Woking.

That left them in third place but means they have just 10 games left in which to claw back a daunting 13-point deficit on leaders Kidderminster Harriers.

It's not impossible but the Bulls can't afford to lose any more matches or, indeed, to drop many more points, if they are to have a chance of regaining their Football League place.

But Turner said: "If both of the top two slip up, and these things do happen at this stage of the season, then we still have a

chance. All we can do is keep plugging away.

You never know, while it is still mathematically possible to do it, it cannot be ruled out. We will still try and finish as high as we possibly can."

But they could certainly influence the destiny of the championship as next Saturday they travel to Harriers' chief title rivals, Rushden and Diamonds.

Turner's men certainly won't be daunted by the challenge, having thumped Diamonds 4-0 at Edgar Street back in September in arguably their best league performance of the season.

Third place is their most realistic target, and that would represent the Bulls' best finish since being relegated to the Conference in 1997 and would also give them a tidy sum in prize money.

It would also be their best finishing position in any division since John Sillett's side won the old Third Division title way back in 1975-76.