Martin Allen insists that relegation would not be the end of the world as his Cheltenham Town side prepare for the battle of the bottom two.

Rock-bottom Cheltenham entertain local rivals Hereford United at Whaddon Road this afternoon eager to avenge the 3-0 drubbing they suffered at Edgar Street earlier this season.

Allen's side are also hoping to leap-frog the Bulls with a victory and make inroads into the seven point gap between themselves and safety.

The manager believes that surviving the drop is still a possibility with 19 games and 57 points left to play for – but insists that the club will not be breaking the bank to achieve it.

Allen hinted that there will be no new players arriving in the foreseeable future to strengthen his survival bid because he is 'snookered' by lack of finance.

"We can still stay up and I would never give up until it is mathematically impossible," Allen said when addressing a specially arranged fans' forum on Thursday night.

"We won't run away from our current situation; we will turn and stare it straight in the face. This is a great learning experience for me because I have never been in this position before.

"Relegation would not be the end of the world because we could bounce back from that. Going into administration and going bust would be something that would destroy me.

"We haven't got multi-millions to spend on players to strengthen our squad or buy our way out of trouble. The people (chairman and board) do what they can and nobody should criticise them because if they were to walk away we would really be in trouble."

A lack of finance looks likely to mean that Allen will have to continue to "duck and dive" if he is to strengthen his squad further.

And Allen is also hoping that one of his current 'freebies' – Elvis Hammond – will start to show why the manager was compelled to offer him an 18-month contract.

Allen claims that Hammond has a bit of "magic" about him – although even the player himself admits that he is yet to showcase any of it in Cheltenham colours following a 16-month injury lay-off.

The former Fulham and Leicester City striker missed the whole of last season with ankle problems, but did enough during an initial three-month contract to earn himself a permanent contract at Whaddon Road.

He scored his first goal for nearly two years in the 6-3 defeat by Peterborough United on December 28, but he began to look worn-out and his goal threat was non-existent throughout January.

The recent postponements, however, have given him a chance to recover physically and he is set to start up front this afternoon.

He said: "I needed a breather and I was finding it tough.

"I came back in November, had a lot of games after 16 months out and it was great to be playing.

"But two games a week started to take its toll. Hopefully I have recharged the batteries and I am ready to go again."

Cheltenham (from): Brown, Westwood, Duff, Diallo, Ridley, Russell, Bird, Westlake, Bignall, Spencer, Hammond, Owusu, Vincent, Finnigan, Gallinagh, Puddy.