United midfielder Mike Jones makes a return to the match day squad this weekend having served a one-match suspension for his sending off deep into time added on against Lincoln City two weeks ago.
With just four games left to play, he admitted that the task ahead is clear if the Blues are going to edge their way into the end-of-season play-off places.
“Even though we know what we have to do with these four games left, I actually think we’ve known what we’ve needed to do for a while now,” he said. “It just seems that every time we’ve gone into the next game it’s been a case of us saying that we have to win it.
“We’re now at the point where we literally need to win every game. That’s how it is, and I don’t think we will stand a chance if it turns out as anything less. It’s simple really – it has to be four wins from four games.”
“All we can do is go out and give it everything, as we have been doing in every game this season,” he added. “I think when you look at the Lincoln game the fans saw that we gave it our all, but it just didn’t happen for us on the day.
“We’ll approach it in the same way on Saturday and hopefully it’ll set us on the way to four out of four and it’ll get us into the top seven places.”
With United having suffered just one defeat in their last ten outings, he told us: “I’m a little bit different to some people in the way I look at unbeaten runs. It does stem confidence, of course it does, but all the way through my career I’ve never liked drawing games.
“For me, they just don’t take you in the right direction, unless it’s an away draw to a team that’s right up there. That’s when it becomes a good point away from home. With where we are right now, we have to accept that draws are no good for us.”
Part of that run of good form has seen the Blues draw four of their last seven games, and the combative midfielder admitted that it was something he thought about whenever he looked at the league table.
“There are countless games you can look back on where you think ‘what if we’d won it’ particularly when we’ve been on top and we know we should have got the three points,” he said. “There were so many occasions where we could have nicked it, and when you add all the points up it’s just really frustrating, because we’d have been much higher than we are now.
“All we can do is keep going and make sure we keep doing our part of the job to put the pressure on the clubs who are just above us right now.”
Last weekend, of course, saw him miss the trip to Swindon having picked up the two bookings during the home game against the Imps.
“It was really annoying,” he confirmed. “I had the Masters to watch, but that was about it. I hate missing any game and obviously I thought the two yellow cards were tough decisions, especially the second one.
“I just didn’t think I needed to be given another yellow. It’s something I haven’t had very often through my career, and it’s one of those things where if you know it’s a bad foul it’s fair enough. You accept it.
“But when it’s so innocuous like that, with the lad turning and running into me in the 96th minute, there’s no need to give the booking. Even their lads were telling the referee not to do it, so that made it more frustrating. It’s happened now, it’s over, and I’m available for Saturday if the gaffer needs me.”
With close to 2,000 United fans expected at the Globe on Saturday afternoon it’s building up to be a fantastic day out, with the players more than up for the challenge.
“It’s brilliant to see so many there, it really is,” he commented. “It was class there last year and we got a nice result, so that was a good day for our fans.
“Hopefully we’ll give them another good day and we’ll keep the dream alive. The confidence and belief are still in the dressing room but, as I said earlier, it’s all down to getting wins now. That’s all we need.”
Click HERE to watch an interview with Mike Jones on iFollow United now.
