Holding out for a hero

It's a big if and a bigger but, but it's possible that by tomorrow night we could be within 4 points of Dagenham. Gravesend are as difficult an opponent as we've faced during this run, but this league is so unpredictable; we've probably got a better chance than at any other time in the last 12 or so games.

Dagenham have got Burton away, who are no pushover. Even with a game in hand; the Dagenham lead could still close up; suddenly they've lost their best players, if Burton do the job, they'll have lost two in a row, we've got a good run ahead of us, they've got four of their next six away and they've still got to come to the Kassam for, let's face it, is starting to look like a title decider.

We're basically looking for a hero; this season is beginning to remind me of 95/96. We had very moderate form for most of the season; propped up by a good home record. We had a wretched February winning one in six. We then went on a 17 game run with just one defeat. Finishing the season second.

The run was characterised by the form of Joey Beauchamp and the goals of Paul Moody - who scored 11 in 14. Of course, one was supplying the other. Matt Elliot had been excellent all season, but it was those two coming into blistering form that made things happen. It was also characterised by the settling of the system - when Martin Aldridge was out, David Rush came in, when Massey was out, Mark Angel came in and so on. We need that settled system now.

There is an argument to say that our run has been so poor, teams could be encouraged to attack a bit more (Gravesend more than most - good team, beaten us already), because we now have a reputation of being beatable. A more open game will be to our advantage as we seem to struggle when trying to unlock a well drilled unit. Which would suggest some pace (Yemi? Eddie Anaclet?) and strength (Robinson? Grebis?) could be the special powers we'll need in our heroes.