We arrive at today's game against AFC Wimbledon after a very poor run of results. The last four games have been very disappointing especially as the standards we have set ourselves since the turn of the year have been very high.
At times like this, as a player, you cannot help but think about the situation over and over, trying to search for reasons as to why things have not quite been right.
The simple fact is that we have clearly missed some very influential players through injury. It is another simple fact that a club of our size does not have the financial advantages that other clubs in our league have to create a squad with plenty of depth.
We have plenty of very good young players in our squad that, given time and sensible handling, will go on and have very good careers but it is a big ask for them to come in at this vital stage of the season and expect them to produce on a consistent basis.
Young players need to be drip fed into the team. There might be an exception to the rule now and again where a young player comes in who is physically and mentally equipped straight away but that is fairly rare.
The management team have been working tirelessly with us players to put things right and we will continue to do our best to turn our fortunes around.
You never know what can happen in the next three games and so we will not stop fighting until the very end.
This weekend's fixture coincides with a campaign, backed by the Professional Footballers' Association to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
Myself and my team-mates will be wearing our "bowel cancer star of hope" to show our support for a very good cause that will hopefully benefit all leading bowel cancer charities, including the Adam Stansfield Foundation, which we are all very familiar with and hold dear.
It is a fantastic cause so if by wearing our badge makes at least one person support the charity then the campaign will have been a success.
As the PFA representative at Exeter, it is my job to organise this sort of thing. It's a job that I have always tried to avoid in the past as it always looked hard work but I wanted to give it a go this year just to see what it was like.
The PFA is our union. They represent us football players in everything from helping out with disputes you might have with your club, to financially contributing to any further education you would like to undertake to help ease the transition from retirement and into your next career.
They are very good in supporting us players and it is something I have taken advantage of. They financially contributed towards my level two and UEFA B coaching badges, the completion of two A levels and they will be contributing towards a degree course I will be starting this summer.
It is this kind of help that all players should look to take advantage of before they hang up their boots. Football is a very short career and players in the lower leagues earn nowhere near enough to retire on and so they will have to start a second career after they retire.
With retirement age approaching as a player in the lower leagues, it can be a very scary time. If, like me, you left school at 16 to play football full time, with no other qualifications other than GCSEs, it can be daunting when thinking of what to do next.
Being one of the lucky ones and having a level-headed, sensible and encouraging wife, I have started planning for that dreaded day but I have seen some close mates go through very difficult times such as bankruptcy and divorce.
Such situations are difficult to see when you care about the people and they all advised me to plan for the future away from football as soon as I could.
Subconsciously, I think the reason I volunteered to be the PFA representative for the club was to see at close quarters exactly what help and support was on offer for all players. It has also given me the chance to offer younger players advice about the importance of planning ahead.
I have actually surprised myself and quite enjoyed the responsibility that has come with the job. It has been fairly involved but very interesting. You do get plenty of stick from the lads but I suppose someone has to do it, plus, as representative, you get your subscription fees paid – so the job has its perks.
