IF I KNOW our players, they will be itching to get back into action next Saturday.

It already seems like a long time since that match at Charlton which ended our Football League record, and there are still five more days before we are back out on the pitch.

As pros, you just want matches to come round as quickly as possible when you’ve suffered a defeat, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Bournemouth feel the full force of our frustration.

While the defeat to Charlton was disappointing, especially as they are the League I leaders and it gave them another three points on us, I have to say one thing:

The result at the Valley hasn’t changed our ambitions one iota.

Our only objective this season is to win promotion and that’s what the focus is on – totally.

While the record run of 43 matches is nice for the club and, in years to come, will be nice for the people involved to look back on, it has never distracted us from the main target for the campaign.

I’ve been around the squad all season and, while we’ve had a tremendous start and are right up there in the mix, not one player has ever mentioned the record run to me.

That means the focus the gaffer wants has been maintained and all the lads have been thinking about is taking three points in each game that comes along.

That’s exactly as it should be and all the work this week will be done with the aim of taking three points off Bournemouth at the Galpharm on Saturday and getting back on a winning track.

There is a busy and important Christmas and New Year holiday period coming up in which we want to take as many points as possible, but it has to be done one step at a time.

Confidence within the club is very high and rightly so.

We have been playing some really good football this season – including at times in the Charlton match, when I didn’t think we got a lot of luck with the run of the ball – and for the whole of 2011 our form has been extremely solid.

While there are one or two good sides around us, including Charlton, I still think we are the best team and the best squad in the division.