ANOTHER week passes and another crop of games have already been and gone... with another to come tonight.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never known anything like this in all my years of football and the madness of the Conference just doesn’t let up, does it? We’ve even had a game finishing at nearly midnight this week!

The most frustrating part of all has been the fact that I’ve been sidelined through injury but I’m pleased to report my recovery is bang on schedule.

Tonight’s game probably comes a bit too soon for me if I’m honest but I’ll be travelling with the lads today and taking part in the pre-match warm up to see how things are.

On Thursday we trained as usual at the Cardiff University playing fields and though the April snow was a bit unexpected, it was brilliant for me to get back out with the lads for the first time since I got hurt.

I took part in the session with no ill-effects and that was, of course, the aim. I am desperate to be back playing but it’s about being pragmatic, getting back for one extra match isn’t worth jeopardising the rest of the season for, especially if our biggest games are yet to come.

I am writing this column before last night’s game between Mansfield and Wrexham but I think, realistically, we have to start talking about Mansfield as the champions elect.

Since we beat them they’ve won a dozen successive matches and whatever level you’re at, that’s phenomenal form. You can be lucky twice, three times, but you can’t be lucky 12 in a row and it’s the form of champions.

As a group we aren’t thinking about the playoffs yet and we won’t until it’s all over, because we put major pressure on the teams above us if we can win all our remaining games.

It’s a big ask, but I think our form is very good and since we lost to Stockport, winning every game has been possible, we’ve drawn a couple that we were disappointed not to win.

Our hope, of course, is that Mansfield blow up. When they only need X amount of points it becomes very real and better sides than them have shown nerves.

But if they hold on, we must take heart from our performances against Mansfield ahead of the playoffs. We’ve taken six points off the best team in the division and that shows how good we can be on our day. And that’s all the playoffs are. It’s about getting it right on the day.

From our point of view, the key to a successful remainder of the season is having as many players as possible fit and available for selection, and to that end it’s a shame that we’ve lost Max Porter for the season.

For the first half of the season Max was the absolute key man in our midfield, he’s shown what a good player and valuable performer he is and we’ll miss him.

But that’s the name of the game, it’s why managers are always talking about squad depth and we’ll be able to cope. We have quality throughout and the manager is working well at picking the right team for the right game to get the job done.

It’s a big game for us tonight but the mini-break of three days without a game probably feels like a summer holiday for the boys and I think we’ll be fresh for a difficult away day, our last for a while.

Next week we have three successive home matches and I know that’s something we are looking forward to, we want to end the season in style at Rodney Parade.

Before I sign off I’d like to mention my old mate Tony James.

Tony lost his dad last week while we were on the road and yet he played on Thursday and Saturday and was absolutely excellent.

I’ve known Tony for years, we both played for Welsh Schools together and since then we’ve obviously come up against each other many times in the Football League, Newport against Cwmbran...

But Tony is one of the rare professionals you’ll never hear anyone say a bad word about.

He’s respected and if he wasn’t so down to earth and unflashy, not to mention an inch or two taller, he’d have unquestionably played at a higher level.

Tony has been a fantastic signing for Newport County and the players think the world of him, his dedication has been brilliant.