IT’S HANDLING THE BIG STAGE

WITH the National League season coming to its end – and going right down to the wire – there are still so many clubs in with a real chance of promotion.

Indeed, as I write this, there are four clubs still in with a chance of automatic promotion. Only one can go straight up, of course, so three clubs will have to reset and go again in the play-offs.

These clubs have all had great seasons and will fancy their chances in the playoffs whatever happens, but there are a couple of key games that may swing it one way or the other. The first of two key battles in the race for top spot takes place at Edgeley Park this lunchtime when Stockport County take on Torquay United – second versus third. Then, on Saturday May 22, it’s leaders Sutton United taking on Hartlepool United. It’s incredible that with only three games to go these fixtures are still potential title deciders.

Without fans, this season has been tough, but the teams fighting for the play-offs have done an unbelievable job to stay focused and keep performing. Effectively, seven clubs are still fighting for the play-off positions and some of these teams are having a brilliant run of form at the right time. Chesterfield and Notts County have had a couple of big wins recently which puts them back in with a chance when all looked lost a couple of weeks ago. Wrexham are still in there fighting, as are FC Halifax Town, while Bromley have had a fantastic string of results and can see the play-offs in sight.

Calmness

Bizarrely, they have to play Notts County twice in the last three games, which is almost a play-off two-legger even before they begin. Eastleigh have games in hand which could plonk them right in the proverbial mix, and even in-form Dagenham & Redbridge have an outside chance having enjoyed a serious run of wins under Daryl McMahon.

They say that going up in the play-offs is the best way, I’m not sure about that. It’s certainly a great day if you win and manage to pick a trophy up, but, for any player at any level, it’s the same processes that need to be followed to get that calm and methodical approach that is needed.

Yes, the music needs to be ramped up to the max, the messages have to be full on, and the team spirit on a high, but not getting too carried away with the event and the chaos surrounding any big game, is key to teams who walk out at Ashton Gate on June 20.

In any big game, at either end of the table, it’s about striking that balance of extreme belief and focus but also calmness and assuredness that comes with knowing your jobs on the pitch. Buying a fancy suit or staying in a plush hotel for three days in advance will not make you win, it’s about the lads doing the same things that have brought results week in and week out. Normal routine, normal food, normal clothes, normal result.

Days such as this have been decided on moments of brilliance or moments of madness. No matter what you do, there is a feeling in your body, an intuition that tells you what will happen. Even after a good start, it’s how you react to a missed chance or a bad mistake – that sinking feeling which gets inside your stomach and renders you zombie-like, in a state of impending doom. These days are hell and stay with you for a long, long time. Maybe these events are what drive you the next time, or push you forward in your life.

Relief

Sometimes, however, you feel it’s just ‘your’ day. The changing room is buzzing, there is a mixture of hardcore belief and focus in enough of your teammates’ eyes to know that you know you have a major chance. I remember playing at Wembley and us being under pressure for 20 minutes. The weather was stiflingly hot and the pitch was tricky, yet there was a belief that we were good enough to survive periods without the ball in a good shape, in the knowledge that we had lads who could score goals. When it happens you almost expect it, you have visualised it enough times that it happens in reality. I always think of families and friends sat in the stands during big games, cheering you on and desperately hoping you do it. The feeling when it goes right is on a different level. For me, it was sheer relief for those around you, not for myself. That immense joy and relief when the race or game is won, when the line is crossed. That feeling is so special, and that is what will be driving the managers and players of those teams. It still drives me and it is what feeds you, wanting to get that success for those around you. Good luck to all.