Why Wimbledon is simply a 'must win' game ... The David Rawson Rotherham United Fan Column

Another set of “if only”s

If only the referee had blown for a foul on the goalkeeper. But then, if only the goalkeeper had claimed the ball properly. Then there would be no decision for the referee to make.

If only Nombe's shot hadn't hit both posts but instead gone in for a last-gasp equaliser.

If only we could put a competitive side out for more than half a game at a time.

We wouldn't have lost. Again.

The “if only”s are stacking up this season. The manager says that they are reasons, not excuses.

Fair enough. But we're running out of time even for reasons now.

We cannot afford to add “beating Wimbledon at home” to our list of “if only”s from this season.

The squad contains half a dozen players who know the manager doesn't want them - he's only playing them because there's no-one else. The manager's made that clear, publicly, so we can assume it's even clearer in private. You can see it in the conservative passes, the way that the opposition have that extra second on the ball before being challenged when the unwanted gang are on the pitch.

If the five points between us and safety becomes eight, are those players going to contribute to the kind of mental toughness needed to close that gap?

I don't see it. Consider the number of cheap goals we give away against the amount of work it takes for us to score.

I don't see us having the physical robustness to grind out the results we'd need, either. Or bringing in the three or four players who might add the sort of grit and guts we lack before the end of the transfer window.

Something close to the manager's fabled first-team has to start - and finish - against Wimbledon. And it has to win. Anything less and I'm not sure how we get out of the bottom four.

That's why I'm not taking that much from the first decent 45 minutes in 45 days at Edgeley Park. Our margin for error is too thin.

Yes, there was some fight. Yes, we were denied at least a point by a poor refereeing decision.

But, no, we weren't competitive enough in the first half. And, no, when push came to shove, we weren't strong enough, or determined enough, to defend our goal.

And so, yes, it's better, but it's still not enough.

We need to be able to play with the urgency and determination and ability that we showed for 45 minutes, but for 90. And regularly. And we need to do it when the game is there to be won, not when we're chasing a result.

Because losing away to Stockport won't relegate us, but losing at home to Wimbledon just might.