IT seems to be my mantra this year but the next run of games is massively important as we get ready to hit the halfway point of the season at Christmas.

Newcastle at home on Monday and then Palace away the following weekend are games we must win.

The points are crucial because after that, three of the next four games are against Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal with the latter two away.

We need to make sure we have some daylight between ourselves and the bottom three going into Christmas because that time of year throws up all sorts of surprises.

Beyond that I hope the powers that be are drawing up a list of January transfer targets right now.

It’s obvious that our recruitment in the summer wasn’t quite up to scratch but we need to rectify that as soon as the transfer window opens.

I know January isn’t a great time to buy players because they attract a financial premium but the squad needs strengthening in a few areas to increase competition for starting spots.

Certainly in defence we’re looking a little light, especially if we pick up any injuries like we have at the moment, with both James Tarkowski and Ben Gibson having further surgery, while I’d be looking for something a little different to what we’ve got in the final third.

All our attacking options are quite similar and we just need to be able to unlock something new because teams know how to play against us now.

A slight worry with all that in mind is that we’re yet to appoint a technical director, who was being earmarked to look at incomings and out-comings on the playing staff.

We’ve been linked with plenty of names but we’ve no-one in the door yet.

Hopefully all the lads who’ve been away on international duty will come back fit and ready to go again and we’ll see some more of that second half performance against Leicester from the first whistle against Newcastle.