Skipper Jon Stead says Notts County must relish the challenge they are faced with during the last two matches of the season.
The Magpies are bottom of Sky Bet League Two prior to Saturday’s clash with Grimsby at Meadow Lane with their Football League status reliant on other results going their way.
Notts are two points from safety, meaning they need to beat the Mariners to ensure they avoid the drop this weekend.
And Stead feels the side must not fear the occasion and need to focus on the achievement they could still pull off.
“They’re two unbelievably tense but exciting games with two completely different potential outcomes,” said the skipper. “But it’s a challenge I relish and the lads should feel positive about it.
“The excitement of what could be and the positive outcomes we could achieve are the things you have to focus on.
“We need to win – there’s no skirting around it because that’s the be all and end all. Everything goes out the window and it’s almost like a cup game.
“Our focus can only be on getting three points against Grimsby and taking it into the last match where anything can happen – we’re due some good fortune.”
The striker says he will not look back on 2018-19 fondly but hopes Notts end the campaign positively for the club’s supporters.
“At the end of the day, we’ve not been good enough this season," Stead admitted. "But we’ve still got an opportunity to put it right and come away with some self-respect.
“We want to end it on a high and the supporters can go away in the summer disappointed, but not heartbroken.
“It would be fantastic but, for me, it wouldn’t overtake the disappointment and, to some extent, the embarrassment of the way the team and I have performed this season.
“Talk is getting tiresome, so we have to leave it all out there on Saturday and if we do, we give ourselves a good chance of taking this into the last game of the campaign.”
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