IT'S always disappointing when you feel you have played well against the top teams, scored three and still get beat.

We have suffered quite a few blows like that this season though, and you just have to take it and move on.

The goals in the 'for' column has been fine, but at the end of the day you only have to look at Real Madrid and AC Milan. It doesn't matter who you have in your team - if you can't defend and you concede goals you are going to struggle.

We haven't even got the likes of Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo to call on!

In defence, we've had injuries and suspensions all season long and now it looks like Mr Reliable - Mark McGregor - is going to have to come in for David May and do another job.

Everyone is hoping he and Graham Branch will hit things off instantly. They have to because there's no-one else.

Behind them, Brian Jensen also has a massive part to play and hopefully he can put last weekend's off day behind him and rediscover the form he showed earlier this season.

He has had his ups and downs, but in the last few months, since Christmas, he has turned things around.

Norwich was just one of those games where he got punished for a few bad decisions. But as a goalkeeper you know that it all hinges on you.

I can fluff a cross and Robbie can miss an open net and who cares? Brian makes an error and invariably it's a goal in a split second.

They take the plaudits and they take the stick and last week won't bother him.

From a long way off, certainly for the last two months, we have known the fixtures that are going to be important. At last, they are finally here and we find ourselves in a position where everything is still in our own hands.

We go to Walsall and then face Watford a few days later and there's such a fine line between success and failure.

A week is a long time in football suddenly all your dreams can go out of the window, so it's all about keeping the dream alive by picking up points against the teams around you.

It was a help that the midweek results went our way, with Gillingham and Rotherham both getting beat.

But it's still too early for us to worrying about the rest. It's in our hands and we need to concentrate on doing the business ourselves and not even worrying about the teams below us.

Only if things are going wrong will we look and hope. But if we can have a good weekend, and win these two games, we would like to think we were safe.

If the opposite were to happen, we would feel like Arsenal.

Last Saturday morning, they are saying they are going to do the treble. Right now they might even end up with nothing.

Two games in a week that shape a season.

Ours start right here!