The eight teams battling it out to avoid what increasingly looks like two remaining relegation spots seem determined to wait until the final day of the season to determine their fates.

Those inside the Yeovil camp would have been reluctant to label their relegation clash with West rivals Swindon Town a 'must-win' game before a ball was kicked on Saturday.

A failure to do so, however, would have certainly seen their prospects of survival look increasingly bleak. That they managed to end a run of eight games without a win has offered them hope.

A similar outcome tomorrow night in another crucial basement battle against Northampton would see them leapfrog five of their closest rivals to put them in a position of strength with a game in hand over four of them.

That is how close it is at the foot of the table: just three points separating Yeovil in the bottom four and Leyton Orient in 15th place.

Victory for Swindon would have put them well within touching distance of safety – just three shy of the 50-point target Town boss Danny Wilson believes would offer some room to manoeuvre.

Wilson, though, has never been anything other than firm in his conviction that securing their League One status could go right down to the wire. Needing to get something from a trip to promotion-chasing Peterborough on the final day of the season, however, is probably not a prospect the Town boss is eyeing up with relish.

The chances of avoiding it remain firmly in their own hands with games against four of the eight teams locked in the relegation scrap to come in the next three weeks. That run of games includes a crucial Easter weekend double header against Brighton and Leyton Orient. Don't you just love the workings of the fixture computer?

Town will be hoping to be over the 50-point landmark before they travel to Carlisle – another side entrenched in the mire – the following Saturday.

To do so, however, they will need to re-find the sort of attacking verve and defensive solidity that had been a feature of their three outings prior to their arrival at Huish Park. There was little on show on Saturday to suggest that Town were a team on the back of three straight wins. Too good to go down? On paper, perhaps, but it's what they do on the pitch between now and the long trip to Brunton Park on April 18 that will ultimately decide their fate.

It was hard to be too critical considering Town's recent displays– even though they were well short, at Huish Park, of the heights they have reached in the last few weeks. Assistant manager David Byrne was, maybe, astute in his assessment that it was simply a 'bad day at the office'.

"It was a frustrating afternoon," he said afterwards. "It was a local derby and a game where we felt we could pick up the points on the back of our recent form. It just didn't materialise for us and you have to give credit to Yeovil because they had obviously done their homework."

Town's plight was not helped by injuries to two key players before the break, neither was their task made any easier by the swirling wind and scrappy nature of the game that made any sort of intricate football impossible.

"The conditions were difficult, but the same for both teams," said Byrne.

"They handled it better than we did so we can't use that as an excuse. The injuries to Hal (Robson-Kanu) and Sean (Morrison) early on threw us out of shape, but we should have been able to cope with that."

Town still had chances to come away with a point: Yeovil goalkeeper Chris Weale pulling off fine saves to deny Simon Cox and Billy Paynter – although Yeovil, too, would say that Phil Smith had to be at his best to deny Gavin Tomlin the opportunity to add to the John Obika goal that ultimately proved the difference between the sides.

Cox, however, will be kicking himself for missing the headed chance from close range twenty minutes from time that probably would have turned the game on its head. "You would expect Coxy to put that one away," said Byrne. "He has been great for us, but he is human and these things happen." The job of earning survival goes on then. Not that Byrne or anyone else in the camp had thought otherwise, despite a recent upturn in form. "There was no complacency whatsoever," said Byrne. "We know we are in a battle but we are just focusing on winning every game as it comes and if we can finish higher than we did last season that will be fantastic."

Town finished 13th last season. Right now, they would settle for finishing in 20th place – just like the other seven sides separated by the thickness of a cigarette paper.