Latics guest player column: Yanic Wildschut

But at the end of the day we’re still unbeaten, it’s another point on the board, so it’s okay and we have to keep going.

We’ve now lost only two of the last 21 league games. There have been more draws than we’d have liked, but it’s still a very impressive record.

At the end of the day, we’re still up there – even with the dropped points – and we’re just looking forward now and aiming for more wins to generate even more momentum.

I had a few chances during the Crewe game at the weekend, and I’m so annoyed I wasn’t able to take at least one of them.

The most annoying was the header that ended up on the roof of the net, from Max Power’s cross.

It all happened in a split second.

I had to jump, because I couldn’t quite get high enough to reach it.

I was on the back foot and, when it went over, I was like: ‘Oh no, why me, I’ve already missed four chances’.

We also had other chances after that, but it wasn’t to be.

You can’t afford to get down about things like that.

All you can do is concentrate on the next chance that comes along, and make sure you take that.

If I get the same number of chances this weekend against Port Vale, hopefully I will take one or two of them.

We’re all confident going into this game, because at home we’re doing really well.

We need to keep building what we’ve been doing in the last few games, and I think we can get a positive result there.

This is the point of the season where you can see who is going to be going for the play-offs, who is going to be going for automatic promotion, and who is falling a little bit behind.

There’s still 18 games to go, and that’s a lot of games.

It’s very tight at the top, and you can change places really quick.

You just need to get a good run of results – and if you can’t win then at least get a draw.

Obviously we’d love to get automatic promotion, that’s the aim.

But we need to be staying in the play-off spots at the very least.

Our squad here is very big and very strong.

Even when we have injuries, you see the kind of players who are stepping in are able to do very well.

That shows the problems the gaffer has to pick the team when he has so many options to choose from.

Nobody is assured of their place, and that helps to keep everybody motivated to be sharp .

The Crewe game was the first time I’d started a game since I made my loan move permanent earlier this month.

I was unsure what to call it - was it my debut, or was it not?

The last game I’d started prior to that was Scunthorpe away, and I was feeling the effects of the 90 minutes in the early part of the week.

It’s a world of difference when you start a game, with all the tension tht goes with that.

When you come on, it’s sometimes difficult to get over the first blow, and you can get tired very fast.

It was just good to start a game again, for the first time as a full-time player.

I knew from being here the first time that I could see myself playing here long term.

And the next thing now is to help us get promoted – because I know that is what everyone here desperately wants.

Yanic Wildschut was speaking to Paul Kendrick

Paul Kendrick