“Sorry, but bringing on Fleetwood to play on the left wing is absolutely s***.” It was a comment made, in this instance, by my brother, but one that was undoubtedly echoed throughout Kenilworth Road. We’d just witnessed the dictionary definition of a bore draw and in doing so, had kissed goodbye to any hope of top spot. In truth, we all knew it was long gone before Mansfield made their way to Bedfordshire, but we’d just watched the final nail being hammered into the coffin.

After the match, George Pilkington was honest enough to admit as much. So it was really interesting to read Gary Brabin’s recent comments, in which he seems to claim we’re still in with a shout of automatic promotion. Now it may be his comments have been taken out of context. And equally, he made a point of saying that promotion is promotion, no matter how we get it. But even so, give it up Gary. Focus on doing your utmost to get us playing decent football with a settled team. That way, at least we’ll go into these godforsaken play-offs with some momentum and belief.

But on this basis, he’s really got his work cut out. Following Mansfield, we ground out an ugly win against Alfreton and whereas a win’s a win, we’ll have to do a lot better than that to beat the likes of Wrexham or Fleetwood and York. We look disjointed, haphazard and entirely devoid of a cutting edge.

What’s so frustrating about the whole thing is just how inevitable it was. After our home match with Kettering, I wrote a piece on the novelty of two consecutive victories and went on to say that I expected us to build on them with further wins against Kettering (again) and Newport (I’d forgotten about the rearranged Stockport fixture). I continued to suggest that the real test would come in the games against Southport and Mansfield, before saying we’d probably drop points in both. This isn’t an excuse for an “I told you so”. Instead, it’s just a little example of how painfully predictable Luton Town have become.

For what it’s worth, I’m confident we’ll make the play-offs and I simply don’t agree with the fans who think our top-five spot is in danger. It’s really just a case of whether we make it easy for ourselves, or hobble over the line in keeping with the campaign to date.

It’ll be interesting to see if the signing of Craig McAllister proves to be a catalyst for better things, but to pin our hopes on him would, in my opinion, demonstrate just how desperate we’ve become. Likewise Andre Boucard, who moved from York yesterday. A decent signing, no doubt, but not one that can singlehandedly overturn a double-figure deficit. No one player could.

Nevertheless, after Saturday’s trip to Kidderminster we’ve got five very winnable games – against Barrow, Forest Green, Tamworth, Darlington and Bath. A minimum 13-point haul should really be the order of the day, before we head to Wrexham for an inevitable defeat. Negative? Maybe. But I simply refer you back to the fourth paragraph.