Chris Wilder's notes from today's matchday magazine
It is good to be back home for two games this week after an excellent win at Torquay on Saturday. I thought that the performance just answered any questions about the players and where they are at this stage of the season. We have a lot to play for and are still playing to win every game and Saturday was a real eye-opener for anybody who had written us off.
After the Rotherham home game we knew we had let our standards slip for 15 minutes but at this stage of the season all you ask is for the team to be in form and generally over the last few weeks we have been in good nick. We have had some fantastic results, especially away from home. I would imagine that doing a ‘south-west treble’ by beating Plymouth, Torquay and Exeter this season is pretty unique but now we are really coming down to the business end of the season with two home games where we have to go for it and try and get six points.
A lot was said after the Rotherham game but we moved on pretty quickly from that, just as we will not get carried away after Saturday’s win. We know we have a tough game today because I have watched Barnet a few times and people around League Two are starting to talk about how well Barnet play and how well they have done. They are dangerous opposition and will be confident that they can pull away from any danger, whatever the result this evening. Even though Johnny Mullins managed to hit both posts in injury time at Underhill this season that was a really tough game for us and we expect the same tonight.
As always, whoever you are playing against right now teams have targets and something to play for. Teams around us will be thinking about the play-offs while teams below us will be trying to pick up enough points to survive. There are no games where teams are just seeing the fixtures out and it remains a highly competitive league.
We approach each game on its individual merits and in the majority of games recently we have got it right. One we got spectacularly wrong, but that happens in football. It is an education for the players and for me but the one thing that has been very obvious is the application and commitment of the players. The scorers on Saturday show that. Beano has been out of the team but showed great strength of character to take his chance. Damian Batt stepped forward to take the penalty and Simon Heslop came on late in the game to seal the win.
All three deserve great credit, as does Scott Davies who made his full debut and did really well. He is hungry and wants to play for the club and has impressed everybody around the place. He grew into the game on Saturday and played a part in an excellent team performance.
Finally, our thanks to the fans who made the long journey on Saturday. I understand there were problems getting to the game but you backed us superbly and it was a good afternoon for everyone. Hopefully we can repeat that result and all be celebrating together at the end of the game tonight.
Chris