BOSS Lee Hughes vowed relegation-threatened Halesowen Town would “fight to the end” despite seeing his side draw a blank against Leiston.

After working hard to get on top in a scrappy affair at the Grove, the Yeltz just couldn’t find that killer instinct when it mattered most.

The goalless stalemate keeps them entrenched in the Southern League Central dropzone and sees another survival lifeline pass them by.

Hughes rued missed chances but was full of praise for the work-rate of his players.

He said: “We’re not having luck in front of goal at the moment.

“The lads, especially coming here on the back of a 5-1 defeat, showed character and work-rate.

“We couldn’t put a more attacking team on today, we changed the formation around and the lads did well and gave everything.

“It’s just about putting the ball in the net. The lads worked their socks off it’s just gutting they never scored a goal.

“You can’t fault the effort and the fans could see it and got behind us. They were brilliant and they can see the change. We haven’t had that many training sessions to work on things.

“It’s very difficult but we’ll fight to the end. We’re nine points behind but the lads are still fighting.

“There were 21 points to play for before the game. We’ll try to get as many points on the board as we can between now and the end of the season.

“It’s out of our hands but so long as we still put the effort in until the end of the season I’ll be happy with that.”