Like I said at the beginning of the season, our aim is to try and win the majority, if not all, of our home games this season. This, I feel, is the only way that we are going to be successful this term. I need this ground as our fortress and we must make sure that all home games end on a successful note. So far, this aim has been met positively with a win over Swansea, our first League opponents at The Abbey.

Unfortunately, we lost out to Rotherham last weekend and I put this down to the fact that there were several players whose performances were below par. They failed to perform to their full potential and I think we were lucky to come off at half-time with a 0-0 scoreline.

We gave the ball away a lot and always had to scrap to get it back. We also hit a lot of hit and hope balls and that is not what we are about. I think, perhaps, we left our legs at Watford, as many of the players were still tired. We played very well there and maybe we were still basking in our glory and were consequently less focussed. That game took more out of the players than I thought.

But with this defeat will come a response from my team and this home game gives us the opportunity to do something about it. It is always disappointing to lose any game of the season, but it will be interesting for me to see how we react to this.

The strikers will be important in today's game and we have been working on improving our attacking play in training this week.

In addition to this, I am also very pleased to be able to announce that Martin Butler has renewed his contract with the Club for another two years. Both Martin and I have been negotiating over the past ten days and I think this renewed contract proves to both of us, the management, and to you, the supporters, that he is committed to our cause.

Martin has had a marvellous start to the season, scoring four goals, and performances like that will no doubt have scouts taking notice. The idea for us, however, is not just to sign him and then go and sell him, but to sign him and be successful with him.

Finally, midfielder Billy Beall will not be returning to the Club. He had decided that he doesn't want to return to The Abbey and if he doesn't take up an offer at Leyton Orient, he plans to go to college.