BUILDING blocks are going to be the key if Braintree Town are going to stay in the Vanarama National League this year.

I don't mean building blocks that you find in a child's toy box, but rather that they need to be building blocks of results - positive ones preferably - and they need to start doing it fast.

The Iron find themselves in a bit of a predicament after their 3-1 loss at Harrogate Town on Saturday and are back at the foot of the National League table ahead of tomorrow night's home game against Sutton United.

I was busy covering a game elsewhere so couldn't travel to Yorkshire but everything I've read about the game indicates that it was a far more positive display than the sorry capitulation against Solihull Moors.

Justin Amaluzor's goal set Braintree on the right path and they could have been two up had it not been for a brave save by the Harrogate keeper, so to concede just before half-time was a blow.

From potentially being 2-0 up to being pegged back level is a huge difference when confidence may not be at its highest.

Iron had chances after the break but another home goal followed and a third came as Braintree were chasing the game late on so game number 21 passed with no return in terms of points.

Boss Hakan Hayrettin will have been encouraged to see his players pick themselves up after the lows of the game against Solihull, but it's points on the board that count.

I sense that this next month is going to be crucial to the Iron's fortunes this year.

If they have a good run through December then things will look far rosier heading into 2019 and that's where blocks of results come into it.

Teams don't tend to prosper at any level with inconsistency of any sort and that includes results.

One of Hakan's favourite sayings is that "you can't be a heartbeat" and he's right as ups and downs mean a rollercoaster ride where steady accumulation is required.

So far the only blocks the team have had this year are ones of defeats and they really do need to start building groups of wins.

Alan Devonshire had his own favourite sayings in his time as Iron boss and chief among them was: "We have to get to 50 points and take it from there."

Devs knew that 50 points would pretty much ensure your survival in the National League and anything extra was icing on top, but, with 25 games to play and the halfway point rapidly approaching, Braintree are far off that.

They actually need to win pretty much half their games to get to 50 points from where they are and with just three from the 21 so far, that's a monumental ask.

So it's not an unfair question to ask just where are those wins going to come from, but I'm positive that they are there.

It just seems that confidence is vital to this group of players.

I know there have been a couple of high-profile player departures in the last couple of weeks, but this squad have shown that they can match the best in this division - look at Salford - so the ability is there.

It's just teasing that out of them on a weekly basis and making them believe in themselves.

Key to that belief will be form and that's where blocks of results come in.

If, and this is a big if from where we find ourselves, they can accumulate a number - we're talking at least three or four in a row here - of positive points hauls then things will rapidly grow.

Confidence will blossom, the mood around the club will lift and positivity will breed positivity.

You saw the difference that three back-to-back strong results had during Hakan's spell as caretaker boss and while the Solihull performance was a backward step, the players have to keep faith with what they're being told.

They did it before and there's no reason why they can't do it again.

Get a block of results in before the New Year and we'll have something to build a realistic survival fight on.