Six big games to go. Crawley will surely drop a few points, possibly 6 or 8.
Still a big ask, because we are just as capable of throwing in a shitter, as a blinder.
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Agree that there are possibly two places up for grabs. Crewe seem to be having a wobble. The table will keep changing right until the end. I just hope we can go on another run.
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Right now I’d take us having to win away to Wimbledon on the final day of the season to make the play offs.
Before the season started I would have taken us still in with a realistic chance of top 7 in April.
Really hard league this season and we’ve done well.
If we do make play offs I don’t think the club is ready for league one. Think I’d like us to have a tilt at top 3 next season in league two first. However a trip to Wembley this season would be awesome.
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I’ve always said the key to this is winning the remaining home games. 25% there…
Swindon and Bradford are currently poor sides who just want the season to end so pretty confident on those two. Notts is the question mark. They’ve really dropped off since the December game but they can still score goals and will have a big away following.
Do that and would be on 68 points so possible then one away win out of the three could be enough and you’re then looking at a Wimbledon on final day with possibly nothing to play for.
It’s a good run in. I’d certainly rather be playing Donny and Tranmere than having to dig out results at Stockport and Wrexham which a few of the competitors may have to do.
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That’s going to be Franchise. Hope they don’t go up but really they should as they’re comfortably the fourth best team at this level.
Guess for them though missing out on automatic would be a bit like this team in 15/16 but Barnsley were on some run that year.
The problem is, if we somehow managed to sneak into 7th place, we would probably get them in the first round of the play-offs and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over 2 legs. If by a miracle we got up to 6th I think we would have a better chance against, probably, Barrow. Then the final being a one-off anything could happen. Most likely though we will finish between 8th and 10th.
Spot on 
Personally don’t quite think we are quite good enough. We made a really poor Salford side look ok yesterday and then there’s our record against the likes of Sutton and Forest Green. Lucky to get 3 points. If we did sneak in the play offs it is looking like we will play MK and as someone else said I wouldn’t fancy us against them over 2 legs although I hope lessons would have been learnt from Friday.
We have got a good core for next season to build around and add some genuine quality. We need to revamp the forward line and not with loans. Don’t think Jamma has another season in him unfortunately and for reasons which are only known to Matt Sadler he really doesn’t fancy DJ who will more than likely leave in the summer
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Updated:
Also highlighted in red games against Doncaster and Sutton who are both on a 4 game win streak.
We could do with winning one of these away games to stand any chance. Then we need to win all three home games to set up a grand finale on the last day.
For these things to happen we need four things to be true.
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We need to re-find that midfield balance. Hopefully Earing returns but if not, then Jellis needs to feature.
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Isaac Hutchinson needs to re-find his shooting boots
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We need a striker to hit a mini purple patch
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We need a bit of luck
All that said, we’re into the last four weeks of the season and it’s alive for all the right reasons. I think we’ll come up short but for those of us wanting to see progress, we can’t really argue.
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I cannot see us making the play offs. We lack forward power and have key players injured or just returning from injury. I think if we make them it will be something of a miracle and great credit to our staff. I am content to see the progress we have made this season but to turn us into a promotion team we need strengthening especially in the forward positions. At least 2 possibly 3 quality permanent forward players are needed. I would add to that a competitive RWB if we are to continue with playing 3 at the back( a system I don’t like) and 2 CBs (they could be loanees) .I am assuming Maher, Jellis and Weir will all be active members of the first team squad and the injured ones Williams, McEntee etc will make complete recoveries.
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Why don’t you like 3 at the back?
The result against MK was very hard to take and in hindsight our returns from the likes of FGR and Sutton do not look as bad now considering their upturn in form but it just feels like this team is running on empty and about to splutter to a halt.
Our entire season has been decimated by injuries to key players and losing Freddie who was the focal point of our attach really hurt us. Since then our form only really picked up when Jamma found his feet and was an absolute beast. However, he isn’t a spring chicken and as witnessed yesterday is really struggling now, although he is still giving 100% (as are they all) I just think that his body has taken a beating and we are expecting too much of him.
Plus without Earring the midfield just doesn’t click, Hutch looks a shadow of the player he was 3 months ago and his confidence must be rock bottom. What recent results have shown us is that we are great a set pieces but we very rarely finish chances created in open play.
When we have a fully fit squad and used correctly I think this team could compete with the best this division has to offer but neither of those parameters have occurred consistently through out the season. We have a group of hard working players with a great team spirit but unless one of the forwards or Hutch hits a run of form I cannot see us making the play offs.
That said I am just glad we are still talking about them in April … a rare occurrence indeed !
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I agree Andy and would very much echo my initial thoughts on what would constitute a good season which appears to have been all but achieved, we have the best base to build on for next season, in terms of how we have improved through this season, a rookie manager who now has a years experience under his belt and will be all the better for it and the vast majority of the squad, for a decade or so for me.
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The one thing that worries me is
Remember the Wembley debacle? thousands of fans turning up to watch us epically fail? and THAT was with a fairly experienced manager.
Imagine us getting into a play off place with this team and management, such is the unpredictability of this league and other teams around us, it is certainly not impossible
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Get what you’re saying. Only thing I’d say is I’d rather be embarrassed in a Wembley final than being embarrassed by battling to stay in the league.
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I agree I feel we’re running on empty a little. It’s been a long long season and a young side has been stretched to its limits by injuries pretty much all season.
I’m not as convinced as many that draper going back was such a problem. He was never going
To continue in the same form and like every other player he’d have had a spell out the side and / or not scoring and it’s possible all that Faal has done is replace what Freddie would’ve done….we’ll never know and of course Freddie staying in form would’ve been a different matter….i just don t think he would’ve done…
I’m not having this. He did ok but he was also struggling for form after his initial return. He was needing his minutes to be managed but he was pretty uninfluential in a fair few of his games. In fact since Grimsby he had 1 goal and 1 assist and has been hailed the catalyst for the midfield while in the same period Hutch has had 2 goals and 5 assists but has been vilified.
As a 3 him hutch and Comley did give us a good balance and I agree his game isn’t only to be measured by his goals / assist return but it is important….but Earing in a midfield without hutch would leave us even more disjointed and hutch and earing without Comley would also!
The narrative train on hutch is running away with itself too. He played well yesterday. Too much of what he does goes unnoticed and he outperformed Comley in the areas Comley is there for and being heralded for.
Of course his game will suffer if we as a team don’t perform….and it will suffer if there are no other outlets for opposition managers / players to focus their attention on……no manager has ever done a team talk on how to prevent Comley from doing his job but it’s a certainty it happens every week for Hutch.
But….if you take a closer look at the Grimsby game for example his numbers in his all round game weren’t as good as they were for yesterday….the noticeable difference of course is two goals v Grimsby but one was a penalty and one was similar to the shot he had yesterday which went past the post…the difference between success and failure being about 3 inches!!
I unfortunately completely agree with this.
We’ll know more a week Tuesday as two wins, one of which is a game in hand give a much clearer picture and could make it a straight fight with us and Crawley with 4 to play 
Could even be two play offs places up for grabs as Crewe seem to have fallen off a cliff.
Still have to play Wrexham, Colchester and Morecambe in their last five.
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