IT has been very nice to be nominated twice for the League2manager of the month award.

I was pipped to the post this time by my old boss here Graham Turner whose Shrewsbury side have been on a great run of form.

But it is good publicity for me, good publicity for the club and hopefully it proves that, somewhere along the line, I have been doing something right.

Along with Russell Hoult and Dave Kevan, I have worked very hard and it is an acknowledgement of that work and the preparation that we put into the games.

But the manager of the month award can be a kiss of death – I saw Bury beat Graham’s Shrewsbury side last week – so perhaps it is best avoided at the moment.

I will happily win it in the last month of the season, if we are safe!

Results at home have not been great, but we have been doing it away.

Expectation has changed a little now and people think that we can win every game – that is the attitude we go into all matches with but sometimes we have to remember where we have come from.

Sometimes, you just have to accept that another team is better than you are and that was the case with Bury last Saturday.

One of our rivals, Bradford City, changed their manager last week with Peter Jackson succeeding Peter Taylor.

There is usually a reaction when a new manager takes over but the key is what happens after that mini-reaction.

Bradford are a big club but they find themselves in the mix with everyone else.

It’s a scrap and a dog-fight. I have told our players that they cannot turn it on and off like a tap; in every game, they have to give everything they have got and, in the majority of games, that is what they have done.

I have now brought in Adrian Patulea – he was released by Leyton Orient and we had a look at him for a week and saw him in a couple of reserve games.

He has scored goals at this level and been a handful – he knows that he needs to get a little fitter and sharper but he is a good addition to the squad.

We felt that we needed to boost that area a little; Stuart Fleetwood and Waide Fairhurst have done fantastically well but there are a lot of games coming up and it will be tough, for everyone, to keep going consistently.

Adrian might not be the last addition to the squad because, with the transfer window shutting in a few weeks, we have to make sure we are ready for the run-in.

There is a possibility that things will go to the wire and we have to be prepared for that.

Saturday’s game against Barnet isamassive game but it is just another game.

I certainly do not believe that Barnet are as bad as people perceive they are. They have some good players and a very experienced manager.

We need to make sure that we are ready for them – it will be a tough game and, with our home form, we need to do better.

Away from home, we get fantastic support and the fans are constantly vocal but at home – and perhaps results dictate it – it’s much quieter.

We hope fans will come in big numbers and give us a massive following – it has a huge effect on the atmosphere of the game and we need the fans as much as we need every player in the squad.