DangerousSausage

It's time to come up with the goods whoever the opposition are - we need two wins bare minimum, more likely three. Lose tomorrow and we could be adrift with only three matches remaining. However, everyone in this league is beatable. In terms of form, the illegitimate franchise from Buckinghamshire are faring little better than us, sitting 12th in the form table. On paper Yeovil and Macc have got easier games, but football doesn't work like that. Roar the boys on tomorrow - with hard work and a little luck, things might just be looking a little rosier soon.

Very commanding performance yesterday. Obviously an early goal really settles everyone down and the onus is on the opposition to respond, which they failed to do. By the time Stevenage woke up we were already 2 goals up. Great stuff We are in with a chance. If we pick up one more point than Yeovil and Macclesfield over the next six games, we stay up and can put this nightmare behind us.

I was out so I didn't see it. Were we that bad? It's incredible - at times this season, everything seems to have fallen into place to make our escape from the bottom two as easy as possible. And we're still too inept to take the chance presented to us on a silver platter.

We've got to win, don't care how. All we can do is win, win and win again and hope that it'll be enough. Anything else is overanalysing things.

It was superb, as was the week before. We seem to have found just the right mix of passion, nous and flair. O'Brien and Doyle are absolute beasts who will never let us down. We're still in the mire but frankly I wouldn't relish the prospect of playing against us right now!

Got a feeling about this one. To be fair I've had a feeling about this several times over the years and we always lose against them. I wouldn't mind seeing Hemmings from the start if he's fit for this one. If we pick up from where we left off last week we'll make a game of it at least.

The draw against Lincoln was a massive improvement, but we've got to follow it up with a win tomorrow. We've had enough chances, now it's time to deliver.

I'm delighted with the improvement and with the point. At one point in the first half Lincoln really seemed to be losing their discipline and I fancied our chances of scoring a second, but it wasn't to be. I was impressed with every one of the new signings, the grit and work ethic of Rose, O'Brien, Doyle and CMS is what we've been missing all season. Why didn't we sign players like this in the summer? What were we playing at? However, that's another game gone without a win. We need to start winning now, regardless of who the opposition is. The sooner we get our next three points the better.

If Tootle is back I'd expect to see Rose in central midfield. The new signings all need to come straight in as we're running out of games. Hopefully they can make an impact. To be honest I have a little bit of hope again. Difficult against the leaders but crazy things happen in football.

Getting sent off for two bookable offences when you only came on as a half-time sub is indefensible, I don't think we'll be seeing him again. I hope Tootle is fit again against Colchester. We started well and Bird was unlucky not to score, but as the first half wore on Oldham pushed us deeper and deeper. The first goal was a complete fluke, the second the Notts speciality where everyone stands still and watches a cross sail into the box. We were always up against it after that and we never managed to sustain any pressure at all. Next...

I hope and expect us to pick up where we left off against Bury. It's important we play the same 11 if possible - everyone did a good job in our last game, and we really need to find a settled first 11 instead of all the constant chopping and changing.

The goals were absolutely farcical - Fitz getting beaten in the air, the corner where two of their players were left in acres of space to nod in, the fourth when Jamie Turley just stood and watched. Really embarrassing stuff. I'm not usually inclined towards demanding that the chairman gets his cheque book out, especially as the back four that was good enough to get us in the play-offs is still at the club. But right now it would be a massive risk to just rely on them. We are on course to concede 98 league goals this season. That would be a club record! If the new manager doesn't get the defence sorted, we will go down.

I'm a bit late to this party but I'm hearing rumours that we won

The second half didn't take place from our point of view. At no point was the result in any doubt, at no point did we have them under any pressure at all. We were constantly two steps behind them, and the full backs in particular really struggled. Neal Ardley has one hell of a job on his hands to turn that into a functioning unit. Maybe this is just post-derby mardiness, but am I the only one who really didn't like seeing Neal Bishop hopping on the pile of celebrating Mansfield players after their second? If he was a former loanee then fair enough, but the bloke played more than 150 matches for us...

I listened until we went 2-0 down, then I switched it off. When Stallard remarked that we were basically playing seven at the back while 2-0 down I knew what was going to happen. Once again we've collapsed under pressure, once again we've been thrashed, once again it's an easy win for the opposition and once again we deserved to lose. Sick and tired of it.

To be honest my motivation levels are pretty low too. The thought of another wasted season isn't exactly motivating. Only five of tonight's starting line-up were at the club last season, and only three of those were regulars. I can't help but think that the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. Anyway, it is what it is. We need a win to get things rolling again, so why not tonight? It doesn't have to be pretty, just show us some grit and determination.

Good post @Fozzy. On top of that lot we've lost Grant - yes he was frustrating at times but it was his goals that kept us near the top, certainly in the first half of the season. How many tight matches did he decide in our favour? Admittedly we were never going to hold on to him, but we've completely failed to replace him. I didn't want to say so at the time but when I first saw Vaughan play he reminded me quite a lot of Darren Caskey. He seems a bit of a luxury for this league. The recruitment in the summer was bad and it's messed up our season. It's actually been a problem ever since Ray Trew arrived - an awful lot of money has been invested in the squad but we've got precious little out of it.

Can you possess steam @Magic magpie? Another frustrating afternoon but it sounds like we played alright and created chances so at least there's hope. If the players don't let their heads drop we'll be alright. Let's not start talking about promotion again next time we win a couple though, the season is about making it to safety as soon as possible now

Not bad! Stead was absolutely crucial tonight - not only was he as hard-working as always, he was a constant threat too. Took his goal superbly. Not sure he'll manage the full 90 minutes on Saturday though!

I am confused as in all the match reports there is a 0 where a 3 would usually be (in this case next to "Northampton Town"). Surely this is an error. Come to think of it I didn't see any goals either, but I did go to the toilet at one stage, which is when most goals tend to happen. Seriously, it was a pretty ugly match between two teams sorely lacking in confidence, but it was great to see us looking compact and hard to beat again. Ward, Turley and Milsom seem to have plugged the gaping goal we used to have in the middle. We made little impression going forward, but yesterday we had other priorities. A definite sign of progress, now we're ready for our first win!

I can't wait to see the team selection for this one. KN found out a lot about the team on Friday and we'll be able to see what conclusions he's drawn. Surely it'll be about steadying the ship and getting a clean sheet. A hard-fought 1-0 win will be just what the doctor ordered.

Wow, what a complete joke that was. Until the goals started flowing we looked pretty decent and purposeful on the ball, but as soon as Yeovil won the ball (and they broke quickly and in numbers) we were absent. None of the midfield had a tackle in them, the full backs were isolated and far too easily beaten and the centre halves were like headless chickens all night. In the end it was far too easy for them, and that was worrying. Even in our bad spells last season we still managed to give the opposition a difficult game, but not today! Our lack of options at the back is a real concern now. We have invested heavily in our attacking options but now have fewer options in goal and at left-back. And because of Tootle's injury we had the ridiculous spectacle of Hewitt (the one man who could have added a bit of steel to midfield had he not been forced to play out of position) and Boldewijn impersonating a right-back, with disastrous results.

This talk about team talks is generally nonsense, if you're not motivated for a play-off semi it's time to give up the game. Lots of teams do the pre-printed T-shirts, there's nothing unusual about it. Might be worth checking ebay for them, could come in handy when we reach the FA Cup final next season Michael Doyle was playing for Coventry way back when I lived there. Thought he was crap back then

Oh dear. If he just has us down as a physical long-ball side he's in for a shock. What was he doing when we beat them last month?

How did O'Connor do? Would be be in contention for a starting berth for the play-offs? Must have been a belting atmosphere with more than 12,000 there. Good preparation for Coventry...