As we head into the winter period of the domestic football calendar, we face a hectic period of playing no fewer than eight league fixtures before the end of the year.
We find ourselves sitting in a miserable 10th position in the Championship table and a gap of seven points between ourselves and the automatic promotion places.
This gap needs to be bridged as soon as possible and we have to remain in the chase for the promotion places over the coming festive period as come January we will want to kick on towards the Premier League.
There is no better opportunity than this Saturday’s fixture at home to Nottingham Forest.
The international break should have come at a very appropriate time for the club and its fans but none more so than for Gordon Strachan to firmly spend some much needed time with his players and backroom staff.
We have to see the fruition of this, on Saturday.
I’ll admit I’m not the greatest fan of loan signings but the three signings should hopefully have come here with a major point to prove and now is the time for them to produce the goods.
Nottingham Forest have had a reasonable start to the season which included a Carling Cup win against the Boro earlier in the season and are on an eight game unbeaten streak coming into this fixture.
With all this in mind it will not be an easy fixture but it has to be the ideal fixture for Boro to play as at least Forest won’t just come and sit back and defend, they will come to take points back to the Midlands with them.
We the fans need a confidence boosting victory in this fixture as much as Strachan and his team need a morale boosting win to finally kick off the new regime.
Come on Boro produce the goods this Saturday and renew the optimism that we are going to push on from now and make a challenge for the right to go back where we feel we belong.
I’d gladly take a 1-0 victory now but I think we need more than that.
We need a committed performance, goals from the strikers and a clean sheet as the cherry on the 3 points.
Surely we can win this weekend, can’t we?
Read Derek's blog at http://gafferssportsblog.wordpress.com
To rate this article select the number of stars you think perfectly rates this article.
|
