THE important thing to remember is that we’re actually playing a game of football tomorrow.

I’ve heard all about Crawley Town going to Accrington Stanley and Torquay United’s game at Hereford United and how they might do.

But it doesn’t matter at all what results they get and if they drop points if we don’t win.

That’s the message I’m trying to get across to the players because we have to be focused and concentrate on what will be a very difficult game Macclesfield.

People may not agree with me about that but I could list plenty of reasons why it will be tough for us.

The pressure is off them for a start, they have a new manager which often seems to make a difference and their players will be wanting to play well to earn contracts with the club or elsewhere.

I’m sure the stadium will be busy which will gee them up too and they will be looking to come and ruin our party.

All that makes this game a wee bit naughty for us but the main thing I want to stress to everyone is that we can’t afford to be disappointed for too long if we don’t make the top three.

I understand that initially there will be a bit of frustration but three games ago we were all focused on the play-offs and gaining momentum for them.

Through playing well and getting good results we’ve now given ourselves a slight chance of getting back in to the top three but we are still outsiders and things are not in our hands.

If either Crawley or Torquay do the business then we will be in the play-offs and I don’t want anyone being down or despondent about that because we would still have a chance of going up.

We’re also in form and I don’t think anybody would relish having to play us in those at the moment.

But we’re fired up to do well and getting Southend promotion would rank alongside anything else I have achieved in the game.

I’ve had five promotions in my career so far and would class keeping Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday in the Championships as big achievements too.

However, getting this club up would also be right up there considering where we were when we started at the beginning of last season.

There’s still a long way to go but we’ve made big strides forward and now want to finish off the job by getting in to League One

FULL COLUMN IN FRIDAY'S ECHO