SIMON Francis believes the start of Saturday's match with Oldham Athletic could prove crucial.

The two teams are both pushing to get into the League One play-off places.

And Francis believes that makes the game at Roots Hall hugely important.

“This is our biggest game of the season so far,” said the right-back.

“It’s getting that way each week now but Oldham are up there with us and that means it’s very important we win.

“To do that I think we need to start the right way and that will help us to improve the good run of results we’ve been having since losing at Bristol Rovers.”

Francis will also go into the game after celebrating his 100th game for the club in style.

He scored the opening goal in Blues’ 2-0 FA Cup triumph over AFC Telford United at Roots Hall on Tuesday night.

But he was more delighted by his team’s defensive work.

“First and foremost I’m in the team as a defender so I was more pleased with the clean sheet than the goal,” said Francis.

“Steve Mildenhall kept us in the game though and he’s given the manager a tough choice for Saturday because Adam Federici has also been brilliant.”