Mansfield Hosiery Mills stay optimistic, despite latest defeat at Clifton Village

But captain Adam Dobb believes all they need is one win to set their season in motion.

Choosing to bat, Clifton made an imposing 277-5 from their 50 overs.

They did not get off to the best of starts and were 53-3 at one stage before a fourth wicket partnership of 141 between Surya Mahotra (67) and Kiel Van Vollenhoven (91) accelerated their scoring.

Zehn Rana added 41 for the home side with Matt Wright ending with figures of 3-47.

Dane Schadendorf (48) and Daniel Harris (33) made runs but struggled to find partners to stay with them, Donald Butchart taking 3-18, as Mills were all out for 143 in 38.1 overs.

“It wasn't one of our best performances. But we started off really well in the first hour,” said captain Adam Dobb.

“That is something we've been trying to work on over the last few weeks so it was a real positive.

“But then we dropped chances and Clifton played really well and capitalised on that. It really changed the rhythm of the game. Fair play to them - a couple of their lads played exceptional innings.

“The number of wickets left allowed them to go really hard at the end and it paid off for them. It was a good batting track and they played the surface well.

“We tried to create a platform to work with in the chase, but their guys bowled well and the run rate was ever increasing.”

But Dobbs said the belief is still there they can get off the bottom.

“The one thing we have on our side is that everyone is sticking together and team spirit is really good,” he said.

“We still turn up every week believing we can produce a result. Once we do that the whole rest of the campaign could change for us.

“We will keep plugging away hoping that win will come. We just need that all-round performance to come together.”

It does not get any easier for the Millers who next host the league's in-form side, Radcliffe-on-Trent, on Saturday.

Saturday's stunning win over title hopefuls Cavaliers & Carrington moved Radcliffe up into second place in the table.

“They have had a good couple of wins over the last few weeks, but we may have a look at different things in our side and the way we go about it,” said Dobb.

“We know our ground very well and we know how the wickets have been playing over the last few weeks. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”