However, Plymouth have been struggling with injuries and I think perhaps that this may have disrupted their season a bit. In this division, most teams don't really have the luxury of having big squads so having a lot of injuries doesn't make the game any easier for anyone, so I can sympathise fully with Plymouth.

Saying that, we must concentrate on our own game and that starts with where we went wrong against Macclesfield. Unfortunately we didn't function fully in an area which is very important to any team that is going to be successful, and that was in defence. We just lost our way a little bit, we defended too deeply and we didn't close the game up. Consequently we were punished.

So this week the onus will be on making it harder for the opposition to play through us. Macclesfield got through on three occasions where normally we we have been quite solid and as a unit we have been quite compact. However, certainly for half an hour in the second half, when Macclesfield scored three goals in that space of time, it was disappointing. These are the areas that we are looking at, at the moment, and we hope to put it right for this game.

The fact the game is also at home is important. We have picked up our results a little bit at home recently, having won our last two games at The Abbey. This gives us a little bit of a lift at home in the league and it is important that we continue in that vein. I always feel that home form is the basis of a successful team and if you start to pick up points away then that is even more of an added bonus.

We were very disappointed to be knocked out of the FA Cup but we wish Macclesfield luck. They have now got a very good tie against Coventry but realistically we would have loved to still be in it ourselves. It would have been great to be in the third round of the FA Cup and it would have kept us afloat. The players enjoy playing in these type of competitions. In truth, in a sense, it is relaxation for the players. Also the second aspect of us no longer being involved is the financial side of things. So, we're missing out on two fronts. However it does give us more opportunity to concentrate on the league. The league has always been our priority and it is clear that now we won't have the hindrance of extra games and replays.

I was very happy with our last home match against Darlington when we won 2-1. They had made a very good start to the season but have slipped away a little bit. Overall though, it was nice again to get another win under our belt after Barnet. I thought at the time the Darlington performance was possibly the best that we have played all season.

On the injury front Michael Kyd is still having problems with his knee. We are expecting him to be out for another couple of weeks. He has been doing light training and we are now just waiting to see how he progresses. But it is very disappointing for Michael, it is a difficult time for him as he had a very similar problem to this last year and it took him a long time to get over it.

Marc Joseph and Neil Mustoe, who have been out with injuries, are likely to start today and I hope that they will be back because it will make the squad that little bit stronger.