Ian Burchnall says we’re treating every game between now and the end of the season as a ‘must-win’.
The head coach leads us into another long away trip down to Eastleigh this evening after overseeing a strong performance against Torquay at the weekend.
And, with nine games left to cement a place in the Vanarama National League play-off positions, Burchnall is acutely aware of each match’s importance.
“Every game is must-win,” he said during his pre-match press conference. “We want to finish as high as we possibly can, so we go into every game with that mindset. We’re not happy with a draw.
“To win matches we have to try and deliver the same kind of performance we did at Torquay. The players can see the value in what we’ve been trying to do on the training pitch and how it looked and felt when we applied it in a game.
“We’re better when we’re calm and keep the ball. That’s what put us in a strong position against Torquay.
“When we became more stressed and started trying to move the ball from back to front too quickly, that’s when we started giving the ball back to them and allowing them to put pressure on us.
“We need to be really brave to keep doing the things that put us 2-0 up – and then try and go for a third – and we also have to do the ‘ugly' bit by defending set pieces properly.
“Our aim is to go on a positive run now and gain momentum going into the play-offs.
“Every three or four days we’ve got a new opportunity to pick up points. Tiredness has to go out of the window – we’ve just got to enjoy the pressure and the competition. That way, we can make this a really exciting period rather than a difficult one.”
Burchnall confirmed that he will be without Jim O'Brien and Alex Lacey for tonight's trip after the pair came off with injuries at Plainmoor.
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