Striker Sam Smith says the U’s must develop a mindset that there is nothing holding the side back from stringing together a positive run of results in Sky Bet League Two.
The Reading loanee admits the Christmas and New Year spell of fixtures did not yield the return in performances or results that anyone at the Club were after, but that the first team group should remain stout that they are able to recoup the points lost in their upcoming series of matches.
Smith said: “It has been a difficult Christmas period. We’ve not maximised some of the performances and come away from games disappointed with the result, thinking we maybe deserved more.
“We know, you cannot concede three goals in a game like we did against Orient and Mansfield and expect to get points. Even though we dominated the second half against Leyton Orient and looked good in the first half against Mansfield, you can’t afford to be switching off like that and expecting a positive result.
“We have got a period of games coming up now and we still have the belief that we are able to take a lot of points. So we have to make sure we respond by picking up the points we’ve lost over the Christmas period.
“At this point in the season, points are everything. We have to be of a mindset that there is no reason we can’t go on a run.”
Smith feels the U’s may just be waiting for a brief moment or something as simple as a drop of the ball in their favour, to change the side’s momentum and kick life back into United’s season.
“Sometimes it’s not just a win that can provide the boost a team needs, sometimes it can be a little thing like a decision in your favour or a penalty save, that changes the whole momentum of the season. That’s what I think we need at the moment.
“We have got a massive game with Exeter at the weekend, who we’ve beaten 4-0, drawn with and lost to, so it’s interesting. They’re obviously confident, but we’ll go with a game plan that we have to stick to and help each other out.”
The striker concluded: “We know that with a run of good results against the teams we have got coming up, then anything can change. A lot of the teams we’ve played in the past earlier in the season, I feel we have proven to ourselves we can beat them. We need to think we can get results that flip the table.”
Tickets for tomorrow’s fixture (K.O. 3:00pm) against the Grecians will be available to purchase on match day from St James’ Park for travelling U’s fans.