Can Warrington Rylands bring their poor form to an end?

That is something plenty of the club’s supporters have been asking both privately and publicly even before their current winless run started.

In short, there are plenty of questions at Gorsey Lane right now and precious few answers.

On the pitch, they are in somewhat of a rut – they have won just one of their last nine matches in all competitions, a run that reached a catastrophic low at the weekend when they were humbled 5-0 by lower-ranked Colne in the FA Trophy.

Oliver Roberts' free kick beats Rylands keeper Joel Torrance (Image: Mark Percy)

In their recent rise through the leagues, they have taken to new levels like ducks to water but as is perhaps to be expected, the step-up to a fiercely competitive Northern Premier League Premier Division has been a much tougher adjustment.

Even their much-vaunted attack is starting to feel the strain – while they remain the division’s joint-top goalscorers, Saturday’s FA Trophy loss was the third successive game in which they have not found the net.

With key man Kane Drummond set to sit out the next three matches following his sending-off at the weekend, breaking that run has become a little harder.

As with any run both productive and paltry, the rub of the green plays a fair part and Blues can point to not having much of it of late.

Defeats to high-fliers South Shields and Matlock Town were perhaps undeserved based on performance while they were seconds away from claiming a famous win over neighbours Warrington Town despite playing the entire game without a recognised goalkeeper.

Caretaker boss Jody Banim has been pleased with much of what his side has done, but the salient facts are it has been far too long between drinks for the men in blue.

What is in their favour, however, is the incredibly compressed nature of the current league standings.

Blues sit 14th on 20 points but in a division where 13 teams – from Gainsborough Trinity in fourth to Marske United in 16th – are separated by just five points, the tables can turn very quickly.

However, you feel Saturday’s visit of Whitby Town to Gorsey Lane is a hugely important one for the home side.

It has been a difficult week – embarrassed in the cup and the sight of former manager Dave McNabb proudly taking up his new role at Macclesfield may reopen old wounds for plenty of Rylands followers.

For whatever reason, club figures have been reluctant to address the circumstances behind his departure publicly beyond the brief statement they released confirming it in early September, instead allowing social media speculation to have its day.

Official confirmation of Banim’s role going forward – he has now been caretaker manager for almost two months – has also not been forthcoming.

That is, of course, their prerogative and those kinds of things will not matter to the paying public while the team is performing on the pitch.

With things going as they are, however, those questions may start to get louder.

Warrington Rylands have enjoyed just over four years smooth sailing, but there is no doubt the waters are getting choppy.