IT'S crunch time in the battle for National League safety and Dean Keates has urged his players to show how much avoiding relegation means to them.

Saturday's 3-0 defeat at high-flying Yeovil leaves 17th placed Wrexham two points above the drop zone with 10 games to go.

First up is Saturday's clash against fellow strugglers Eastleigh at The Racecourse and Keates wants to see hunger and desire from his side.

"The division has been unpredictable this season and every game is," said Keates.

"Once you cross that line at 3pm, we have to make sure we have 10 outfield players who put an absolute shift in for the football club and we want it more than the opposition.

"We won't look past Eastleigh, it is our biggest game of the season coming up and we have to make sure we get three points."

The bottom half of the division is congested with a number of teams battling to preserve their place in the fifth tier.

Wrexham are boosted by the fact that six of the last 10 games are at The Racecourse and Keates wants to make the most of home advantage in the run-in.

"Everywhere is tight in the division," said Keates.

"Six out of the last 10 games are at home against some of the teams who are chasing things.

"They will be competitive games and we have to make sure we are bang at it, we give the best account of ourselves and we get the points that we need for this football club."

Wrexham were unable to build on the 2-0 success at Bromley as they suffered a 16th defeat of the campaign against Yeovil at Huish Park.

Back at home for the first time in five weeks, Keates is looking for a positive reaction against Eastleigh who sit one place below the Reds on the same number of points but with two games in hand.

"It has been a long time since we last played here with the Torquay game being called off," said Keates. "We have to make home advantage count.

"Our next game is at home so we have to go out there and set our stall out straight away, and get the fans right behind us and together.

"We need to go and win a football match.

"When we have had a disappointment, we have bounced straight back and got a reaction, and we will be looking at doing the same at the weekend.

"It was disappointing what happened at Yeovil. We have gone from the highs of Bromley to the lows, and now we have to make sure there is a reaction.

"We will have a good week's training and make sure we are ready to go at home."