WE are in the middle of a little run of away games at the moment with our trip to Chesterfield this afternoon the third of four on the road.

It’s a challenging schedule, but when you are playing well and the team is full of confidence you want the matches to keep coming.

It has been another hugely positive week for us, even if we did start it with a defeat at Middlesbrough.

I hate losing any game, but especially where a couple of key decisions go against you – and you leave the ground wondering what might have been.

At the end of the day, we should feel extremely proud of the way we played.

To come back from two goals down to a Premier League club is a great effort, and to do so in front of the biggest away following at the Riverside this season made it even more memorable.

It’s a long journey back and I think it’s a tribute to the medical team and to the professionalism of the players that you would never have known they had been through a five-hour coach journey by the time they played at Charlton on Tuesday night.

We talk about tempo at the start of games a lot and that paid off when Conor McAleny scored a wonderful goal for us.

He is a very talented player with a very bright future – and just like Joe Skarz and Liam Sercombe, he came into the side and absolutely grabbed his opportunity.

We are not the biggest squad, but we do have players fighting for every starting position and it seems to keep driving us forward and acting as great motivation.

It is great to have the press guys ask me about ‘selection headaches’.

That is exactly the sort of problem you do want as a manager, one where you are having to choose the right players carefully and balance selection with other games on the horizon.

I had Sir Alex Ferguson to watch and learn from as a kid at Manchester United and he had to leave out far bigger names than we have here.

He always did so for good reason and was honest and upfront with everyone involved.

I try to be the same with players.

They always know where they stand and whether they start or are on the bench today, the whole squad will be 100 per cent together and doing all they can to turn a good week into a great one.

IT was good to see Wes Thomas and Aaron Martin around the training ground again this week.

Both have had dreadful luck and will be out long term with Achilles injuries, but have been in the treatment room to start their rehab work.

They will follow the programme to the letter, but they know there is a long hard road ahead of them and they are going to have to work hard as they target a return as early as possible next season.

They will need help along the way, but both have a positive outlook which I am sure will get them through the difficult days and help them come back fitter and stronger than ever.