One of the great things about football is that everyone has an opinion.

I don’t know how much clearer we could have been this week, but still everyone seemed to dissect the words from the board or my interviews and form theories and conspiracies which just don’t exist!

I’m not going to waste any more time explaining things, other than to spell out one last time that we have dealt with a very flattering approach from Blackpool, the board don’t want me to go and I don’t want to leave.

So let’s put all our energy in to winning another important game today against Southend.

Anyone who came along on Tuesday will know that we didn’t start all that well against Accrington Stanley.

We will use that in our team talk today, because you need to be on top of your game from the very first minute in this division.

We could have been at least one goal down, but James Henry settled any nerves and then I thought we played very well in the second half.

Credit to Matty Taylor for two more goals and it is fascinating to see the understanding that those two players seem to have.

Some people claim it is telepathic, but maybe they don’t see the hours spent on the training pitches and the sheer hard work of the whole team to create those chances.

If James has room to cross then maybe someone has made a run to draw a defender out of position, or if Matty finds space in the box then a defender might have their hands full dealing with another player.

I thought Marcus Browne played well on Tuesday and George Thorne showed glimpses of what he can do.

Crucially, Simon Eastwood stepped up to make an amazing double save when we needed him.

I’ve always said we have the best keeper in the division and stops like that remind everyone how good he is.

Fortunately the players in front of him – Sam Long, Anthony Forde, Rob Dickie, Elliott Moore, John Mousinho and Josh Ruffels – have made Easty’s job easier with some tremendous defending all season.

Our current run of three clean sheets in a row is a solid base to build from.

Today isn’t going to be easy – Southend will fight for everything and our record against them isn’t the best.

But we’re on a good run, we’ll be prepared, and hopefully we’ll see plenty of you there to support us.

There is a big sign in the classroom at the training ground that says ‘no club in the country outworks us’.

It’s more of an intention than a fact, but it has certainly been true in February where we have had nine games and even have to squeeze an extra one into the month because it’s a leap year!

I want to praise our sports science and medical team, because the players have the very best recovery and preparation programmes.

Our job is made easier knowing that they are right – physically and mentally – each game.

There have been one or two injuries and strains, but now the fixture list gets lighter.

There’s still plenty of football left, but we have come through the toughest schedule possible and to end it on the up and with players hitting top form is so encouraging.