JOE Rawle believes Malvern Town have improved since he took over as manager.

Rawle replaced Paul Molloy in the Langland Stadium hotseat at the beginning of February and has guided his charges to safety in British Gas Business Division One Midlands.

Although he started with a 5-1 defeat at home to Dunstable Town, which sparked a run of eight games without a win, Malvern have been a better side in recent weeks.

They have picked up six points from their last six games, four of which came from a victory against Sutton Coldfield Town and a draw with Rushall Olympic.

Malvern conceded a 90th-minute goal to lose 1-0 to Rothwell Town at the weekend but Rawle is generally pleased with the way his side have responded.

He said: "We have turned the corner a little bit over the last six weeks, got some decent results and showed signs of a big improvement.

"If we could get a 20-goal-a-season striker, we would be mid-table but it's just affording one.

"We deserved to win it on Saturday. We had the chances to put Rothwell away."

Malvern visit Bishop's Cleeve for their final game of the season on Saturday (3pm) and Rawle is turning his attention towards next season.

"We are safe now. We can't go down," he added. "I am going to play all the lads who were on the bench last Saturday. It's just to give some of them a run-out."

Left-back Tom Lacey and centre-half Adam Harris are two youngsters likely to be among those starting.