'KEEP the faith' is Bryan Hughes' message to supporters frustrated with Wrexham's faltering promotion challenge.

The Reds go into Saturday's clash against relegated Braintree Town at The Racecourse on the back of four defeats in the last five outings, leaving Hughes' side fourth in the National League.

Now outsiders for the title, Wrexham have still got work to do to ensure they secure a play-off spot with five games to go.

Hughes understands fans' concerns given the poor run of form but he has urged supporters to keep believing.

"I am as disappointed as them with the results," said Hughes. "All I need them to do is to keep believing.

"I don't want the players to dwell and think about it too much.

"The longer it facilitates and starts playing on people's minds, that's when we start getting that negativity and I don't want that.

"We are in a healthy position and at the beginning of the season, fourth place going into the last five games I think people would have snatched your hands off for it.

"The expectation levels rise when you are doing well and because we are in this rut, people are questioning things which is fine and they have got a right to because things aren't quite right on the pitch and we aren't getting the results that we really want.

"But there is still time to get it right and try and finish the season off in a bit of form."

Hughes is looking to make the most of home advantage in the run-in as Wrexham aim to finish as high as possible.

Three of the final five games are at The Racecourse and with the Reds boasting the best home record in the division, Hughes is targeting a hat-trick of wins.

"Our home record is fantastic and the fans play a big part in it," said Hughes. "We need to get back on track and the home form is going to be key.

"I am looking for us to hopefully take maximum points from our home games.

"If we get maximum points from those home fixtures, I'm sure that will be enough to get us a decent play-off place.

"We have done it before, we have got the best home record in the division so we are confident of doing that.

"We have had a couple of blips along the way at home but I am confident that we can really pick up the pace now at home.

"We still need to improve our away form but first and foremost I want us to deal with the next game and Braintree is that."

Wrexham were given a boost on Tuesday as three of their promotion rivals failed to win games in hand.

Frustrated that his side have stuttered in recent weeks, Hughes says the Reds have to take care of their own business.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," said Hughes. "This league is competitive and on any given day, any team can beat anyone else.

"All you can do is look after what you are doing and that is what we have got to focus on now.

"We can't affect what is going on around the country, even the weekend's results went in our favour slightly with the draws.

"The fact that we are not dealing with our games is the disappointing thing, we could have been in a healthier position.

"But we are still in a healthy position and we just need to focus on each game and try and get maximum points out of each one."