EASTLEIGH face an Everest-like challenge over the next six weeks which will, in Richard Hill’s words, “determine our season”.

And the manager is angry that the mountain has been made even tougher to climb by the addition of a rearranged fixture at FC Halifax Town this Tuesday (February 24) – hot on the heels of tomorrow’s hike to Chester.

It leaves the sixth-placed Vanarama Conference play-off chasers facing almost 1,000 miles on the road in four gruelling days.

Eastleigh had to take what they were given by the league after no mutually agreeable date could be found for the January 17 Halifax match, which was frozen off on the day.

“We’ve got nine really tough games coming up and, all of a sudden, through no fault of our own, we’ve got to go to Halifax on Tuesday,” said Hill.

“When Halifax suggested Tuesday I said no because I didn’t want to play it before our televised game against Macclesfield next Saturday (home, 12.45pm).

“I suggested a couple of weeks’ time and Halifax said ‘no’ and then I suggested April 14 for weather reasons. The last game up there cost us £3,500 with an overnight stay. It was the right decision to call it off but, going on information we’ve had since, they could probably have stopped us travelling the day before.

“Halifax turned April 14 down and suggested the Tuesday (March 24) between our away games at Grimsby and Gateshead.”

It was then that Hill put his foot down, reasoning: “Firstly, I will not let us play three away games on the spin and, secondly, I will not have us travelling to Grimsby, Halifax and Gateshead in eight days.

“It’s not fair on the players or the fans who like to go to away games.

“To be fair to the league, they felt that would be a bit untoward too and I thank them in that respect.

“But I’d like to stress to our fans that the reason we’re going to Halifax on Tuesday is because we have to.”

With all their outstanding fixtures now allotted dates, the Spitfires face what Hill describes as “the hardest spell of games I’ve had as manager of this club.”

A daunting March contains trips to Bristol Rovers, Kidderminster, Grimsby and Gateshead interspersed with visits from league leaders Barnet (March 14) and Wrexham (March 17).

“I know we’ve got to go to these places and I’m sure there must be other clubs with horror stories, but there could be more favourable times,” said Hill.

“The nine games ahead of us will determine whether we finish mid-table or we go into April with something to play for.”

For fear of making another wasted overnighter, Eastleigh will travel to tenth-placed Chester tomorrow morning.

“While there’s still a chance of bad weather, we can’t afford more hotel costs with the risk of another game being called off,” Hill explained.

Eastleigh beat Chester 3-2 at home in November – a feisty contest that saw Spitfires skipper Dean Beckwith and Blues’ Matty Hughes red-carded.

They are again without injured centre-backs Jamie Turley and Paul Reid, while Will Evans (groin) and James Constable have not trained. Constable cricked his back and neck during the 2-1 defeat by Torquay.