Boss Steven Pressley spoke once again about the importance of the weekend as he looks to take maximum points in a bid to keep the push going towards a top seven finish.
“These are now two huge games where we have to take the maximum of six points,” he said. “It’s actually frustrating to keep talking about the importance of us seizing the opportunity only for us to fail to do so. I know I’ve said that before but, if we don’t achieve it, we’ll only have ourselves to blame.
“We have to keep believing but we can’t keep disappointing. The fans got behind us again on Monday, as they always do, but we didn’t give them the result they certainly deserved.
“Other results around the division demonstrate that every team is feeling the nerves. What we have to do is put ourselves in a situation where we go to Yeovil knowing that we can get a play-off place if things go our way.”
Looking to put his finger on the reason for the current run of inconsistent form, he commented: “It’s hard to pin it down to just one thing, but the truth is that some of the players aren’t quite at the physical level I would like them to be at.
“We saw that even Nathan [Thomas] was cramping up after 60 minutes at Grimsby, which isn’t ideal, but the situation is that we have to work with the players as they are. Looking forward, I want to play intense football, but to play that way you have to be a fit team. That’s one area we will certainly address in the summer.
“I can’t be critical of the effort the players are putting in, they’re working exceptionally hard, but when you’re fatigued and you’re not quite at your levels the quality can sometimes suffer, and the final moments you need that will change games in your favour don’t come.
“That’s something I will only be able to address over a period of time, but it is something we will have in place. One of the biggest things a manager can give his players is fitness, and we will be one of the fittest teams in our division once we get through pre-season.”
With United now relying on other results to help them into the play-off positions, he said: “When we won against Lincoln we gave ourselves a huge opportunity. It was a real shot in the arm, and it became a situation where we needed to show the right mentality.
“We’ve proved in recent weeks that we can beat the best, now we have to prove that we can handle things when there’s a bit of pressure. If we get it right mentally I have no doubt it will put us in with a better chance.
“Right now the next two games are the most important thing. I know we have players coming out of contract, but that’s normal for this time of year. I don’t want to speak to them about their futures until there’s clarity as to where we are next season.
“Once we know that I’ll certainly be sitting down and speaking with them so that I can explain my decisions one-to-one.”
And on his management and coaching staff Tommy Wright and Paul Murray, who had previously signed deals which keep them at the club until the end of next season, he said: “I’ve really enjoyed working with them and I think we’ve built up a good relationship. I hope the feeling is mutual.”
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