We spoke to defender Danny Grainger on Thursday evening to get his thoughts on tomorrow's Colchester game at Brunton Park on Saturday.
“Colchester are at the top end of the league for a reason," he said. "League tables don’t lie, so they are where they are because they deserve it.
"We know they’ll be a good team and they’ll be coming here looking for the three points. We need to make sure we turn our home form round because it hasn’t been good enough this season.
“There have been times where teams have come up here and enjoyed playing on our pitch more than we have, but I’m sure the manager will have something up his sleeve to counteract their threats and to deal with what they’ll throw at us."
“The lads have been working hard for the past few weeks and they maybe haven’t had the rub of the green to pick up results," he said. "We need to start picking up points as we come into a busy festive period. You never want to go into the new year on the back of a bad run.
“We need to make sure we pick up some results at home, I think that’s a massively important thing for us to start doing. Our away form has been decent, but our home form has been poor this year, so we need to start putting points on the board.
“Seasons always seem to be defined over the Christmas period. Teams that go up always go on a good run at this time of year and there are a lot of games in a short space of time. We’ve got a good set of games, we’re at home a couple of times which is nice. We know the fans will get behind us again and hopefully we can kick on and put a few results together."
Speaking about the calf injuries which have seen him sidelined for spells this season, he said: “They've been frustrating. I came back and played a lot of minutes in a short space of time, and that meant I set myself back, but it’s nice to be over that now and hopefully I can try and force my way back into the team.
“The manager will make the decision on when I’m ready to play again and when he feels it’s right to put me back in. I feel good and I know when the time does come that I just need to work my way back into the team.
“Dolly and Paddy [Maher] have been quite cautious with me this time to make sure I've had the right amount of time to recover. It is frustrating to be sat on the side lines, so I just want to try and get myself back into the team and get going again.
"It was nice to be involved in the squad at MK Dons because it’s hard when you’re injured and not part of it."
With the January transfer window about to open, and with activity expected in and out at Brunton Park, he said: “I’m sure the manager has got his targets regarding who he wants to bring in when the window opens, but as players we don’t get involved in any of that sort of thing.
"If people leave, we’ll just get on with it, that’s part and parcel of football. Every team in the league will have a change around of players. Whether they’re at the top of the league and players get moves that they want, or they’re at the bottom of the league and managers try and change things.
"All you can do is settle quickly through it all and make sure you keep picking up points. That's the most vital thing as you go into the second half of the season."
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