ON MONDAY morning we picked through the bones of our defeat away to Kidderminster.

Having watched the game again it was even more apparent that we had done more than enough to at least draw the game but two soft goals conceded once again showed that we have not mastered the art of winning/managing games.

Match management, key moments, key decisions, staying concentrated for 90 minutes and believing in ourselves - it is the mental aspects of the game that we need to improve on.

Tuesday we arranged an in-house game mainly for the benefit of Mike Fowler who is very near to being available to return to the fray. Three periods of 30 minutes saw him come through unscathed to the delight of everyone. Mike has worked very hard with physioIan Rodgerson to get back so quickly and he is almost there.

Thursday and surprise, surprise it was snowing! I had planned a training session on vital parts of the game that we need to work on but as hard as the players tried the conditions were simply unplayable.

On Friday, with the snow still covering the ground at our training base at Hartpury, we trained indoors after going through the information on Cambridge United.

On Saturday we turn up at the New Lawn to find the pitch in excellent condition thanks to Matt Rainey our groundsman. This is another massive game and we know that a win will claw us out of the danger zone and closer to our opponents who are in a bad run of form.

The instructions are to start fast and take the game to Cambridge - the first 45 minutes are the poorest in my time here. We struggle in most departments, our passing, movement off the ball, closing down, heading -the list goes on.

We were way off the pace and simply not at the races. The only good thing was that it was only 1-0 and they had only one other shot on target.

After harsh words we came out second half in much better shape and took the game to our opponents and looked a much better outfit.

The introduction of Conal Platt gave us much needed energy and penetration and after one of many great moves down their left flank a Platt cross found its way to Jared Hodgkiss, who calmly slotted home. We went on to dominate most of the game but failed to score from a number of good openings - an opportunity missed.

Our first half performance was not good enough and we lacked players brave enough to get on the ball and pass it forward. The second period saw a marked improvement but we cannot keep giving teams a start against us. I was delighted with our response and the fact that we clawed our way out of a hole but having seen how we dominated and played in the second half we are now kicking ourselves for not taking a vital three points in our fight for survival.

There are 13 games to go and all to play for. We are capable of putting a winning run together and we must believe in ourselves more. When the pressure is on it is very hard for some players to function and we must find a way to overcome this. The fans were great and stayed with the team and we gave them something to shout about in that second period - and yet the first half performance cannot be allowed to happen again.

Keep believing and working hard and the war will turn in our favour.