From the Skipper

THE CAPTAIN JOSH FALKINGHAM

WE FACE MANSFIELD TOWN tonight and we’ll be looking for a strong home performance, similar to the one against Carlisle United last Tuesday. I’ve spoken all season about home form and that it hasn’t been as good as it should be. But against a really good Carlisle side, we got the 1-0 win and after losing a few by just a single goal, it was a nice feeling to be on the other side of that. Everything we want from a home game we got against Carlisle. We made it hard for them to create chances, as well as tough for them to defend against us. They probably left with that feeling that it was a difficult night for them and of course that’s pleasing for us, not just because we won, but because the performance and resilience were what we expect from ourselves. What contributed a lot to the win against Carlisle was the strong mentality to see out tough periods. Throughout the season, there have probably been times when we haven’t been able to see out those tough moments and it’s resulted in us dropping points. Those key moments in games are where they’re won and lost, and unfortunately at home, too many times those five-minute spells have seen us switch off for a split second. The defeat to Scunthorpe at the weekend probably falls into that category as well but we can’t be too down about losing a game or too upbeat after a win. We’ve just got to keep learning and improving each week. As always, it’s vital we don’t look too far ahead and instead take every game as it comes. You only have to look at the league table to see how ridiculously tight it is. Two wins can put you on the edge of the play-off spots while back to back losses could get you looking over your shoulder. Reflecting on when we played Mansfield earlier in the season, it turned out to be a good night for us and came at a time when we needed a result. They’re a difficult team to play against but that night we did the fundamentals well and when we did get that chance in front of goal, we took it. I think it could be a similar type of game tonight, but if we’re at a similar level, we’ll be in a good position. We’re looking forward to it and hopefully, we can get the right result, but to do that, we’ll have to win the battles and get on top of the game from the very start. From now until the end of the season, we’ve just got to keep putting in good performances and the results will follow.