Follow the yellow brick road

Another win and we seem to be timing a run into form to perfection. A solid performance against Stafford next week should ensure we enter the play-offs in an ebullient mood, the York game can be little more than a nice day out - Nick Harris will finally be forced to introduce a game using a phrase other than 'absolutely vital'.

We should be happy; the rightful aim of the season has been promotion, but the championship, although welcomed, would have exceeded expectations. The 19 games unbeaten at the start of the season did suggest for a fleeting moment that our wildest dreams could be realised. Hopefully any lingering disappointment that remained when it became clear a perfect world doesn't exist, has now gone. In truth, we're a club trying to recover from a slide, battling against teams like Dagenham who are on the up and have been for a number of years. York, Exeter, Morecambe, Gravesend and Burton are all teams who will view their season (less successful than ours) as a success beyond all measure. The old cliché; if you'd offered me this at the start of the season I'd have taken it, rings true.

And, if I could chose the way we'd be promoted then it would be through two heart-stoppingly exciting play-off semi-finals and a final on a glorious day at Wembley. What's more, this is the year to do it; the curiosity of a visit to the new Wembley, plus the relative ease with which it should be possible to get tickets should guarantee a bumper crowd of neutrals. It may sound daft, but I can see us taking 25,000 alone. And remember, you, me and the handful of other mugs who have seen us annihilated by Macclesfield at home and ship seven goals twice in a season will finally be rewarded. This is the whole point of the pain, so let's enjoy what's in store.

Nothing has been achieved; but I want to see us win at Wembley. To do that we have to win a play-off semi-final, to do that we had to reach the play-off semi-final in decent form. We're on the right path at the moment.