JON Macken says he can take his team losing as long as they perform to their potential.

Radcliffe FC had won all six of their matches this season before last night's league match at Skelmersdale United, with a goal statistic of 17 scored and only one conceded.

Top of the EvoStik West division and through to the FA Cup second qualifying round, it had been a perfect start for Boro up to last night's game which was played after the Radcliffe Times went to press.

And while Macken is delighted with the way the first few weeks of the campaign have gone, he is realistic enough to know challenging times are always around the corner in football.

He says the important thing is to make sure everyone at the club does everything they can to prepare and perform as well as possible.

"Everyone keeps saying you can't win every game, but all we can do is keep preparing for the game in front of us," said Macken, who is in his first full season as a manager.

"If there comes a time when someone is better than us on the day then so be it.

"The difficulty is when you don't play well and lose.

"We have made a very good start and we hope we can keep winning.

"All our preparations for games have been exactly the same since pre-season.

"We train well and prepare well and the players have performed well in games.

"But we keep taking every game at a time and see where it takes us."

Last weekend Radcliffe beat Stalybridge Celtic 1-0 in the FA Cup first qualifying round in front of a healthy crowd of 388 to earn a home tie against Curzon Ashton a week on Saturday.

Before that they travel to Newcastle Town on Saturday in the league.

Match report: page 50.