IT GOES without saying that it’s another big game for us tonight against Cheltenham Town.

But the last two matches have been just as important and we’ve been disappointed to have lost them both 1-0.

I think we should have got more out of those games than we actually did but earlier on in the season we were getting points we maybe didn’t deserve so I guess things have evened themselves out a little.

However, we simply now have to get three points on board this evening so we can then be on the up going in to the Bradford game the following Friday.

After that, we play AFC Wimbledon at home the following Monday and I feel those three games will determine where we finish the season.

We want to be pushing towards getting back in to the top three and we certainly don’t want to be looking nervously over our shoulders worrying about if we will make the top seven.

That’s another reason why we have to win tonight and it’s important we’re very positive about things and really get on to the front foot right from the start of the game.

I still consider Cheltenham to be the best footballing side in the division and if you stand off them they will hurt you so we can’t allow that to happen.

We also have to sort out our home form because it’s hurting us big time at the moment.

We’ve won eight of our 19 matches at Roots Hall and even if we had something half decent like 12 wins from those games then we would be top of the league.

I don’t know why things haven’t gone our way but, if we don’t go ahead early, then there’s a level of apprehensive that goes through the players and the crowd.

Someone will then make a mistake we get punished for and we huff and puff without any joy.

We chase the game and it makes things worse because we lose our shape.

Injuries haven’t helped us either and it’s a huge blow that we’re going to be missing Christian Dailly for virtually the remainder of the season now.

He’s someone I thought would really be of benefit for us during the run in and it’s very disappointing that he’s broken his toe.

I also think we’ve really missed two of our other injured players, Jean-Paul Kalala and Liam Dickinson, because of the strength and aggression they bring to the team.

Losing Ryan Leonard has been a blow as well because he’s a six out of 10 player for you every week and Barry Corr must have been the most unluckiest man in the world this year.

He’s had a number of setbacks to put him back and you can see how desperate he is to be involved again.

To keep him busy we’ve actually started to send him out to scout on our opposition and his reports have been very good.

He’s quite thorough and some weeks I’ve been worried we were going to be playing Brazil!

Without them, we have to keep going with the players we have and come up with the righ system and style to beat our opponents.

I understand people have been questioning why Ryan Hall and David Martin haven’t featured in the side together too often and it’s because I’ve wanted us to be solid in midfield.

That’s why I brought on Lee Hills instead of David on the left wing last week at Bristol.

His long throw also added to our armoury and I thought Bilel Mohsni might be able to get on the end of one of them.

Managers have to make these decisions right away as soon as a change like that is needed because of an injury.

But it’s easier for fans and reporters because they can make their minds up at 10 to five!