If people thought Stevenage were about to buckle under the promotion pressure, they should think again according to skipper Carl Piergianni.

Three 1-1 draws in a row have dropped Boro down to fifth, the first time they have been out of the top three in 2023.

But the imposing central defender says that nothing has changed within the inner sanctum of the dressing room and that the belief they had at the start of the season remains as strong as ever.

"Yeah, it’s extremely tight up there now," he said. "A lot of teams vying for the last two automatic promotion places but the nerves in the squad are fine. 

"We're disappointed that we haven't got more out of the last three games, we feel like we deserved more.

"We've made mistakes at key moments in games and we need to try and cut out for these last six games.  

"But we can't dwell on that and we're still confident that if we play like we know we can, we can go and get the points and the victories to get us where we want to be. 

"I'm sure everyone knows after seeing those [recent] performances that we've still got it in us and we can still go and get enough wins from these last six games. 

"We've got enough confidence in the group and I'm sure we can go and do it. 

"We've had the belief all year and that's shown in our performances and we have every right to have that belief because we're sat where we are in the table and if we win our game in hand, we go back to second. 

"There's plenty more points to play for." 

What they can't afford to do any more is pass up any more chances to claim three points, and that starts with the home games against AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers.

Piergianni said: "These are opportunities but the last three games were also opportunities that we haven't managed to take. 

"And we don't have many more opportunities to come so we know how important these next two games are. 

"They're tough games. People say they haven't got anything to play for but they'll all be playing for personal pride and sometimes when you come across these teams like that, they're trickier opponents because you don't really know how they're going to set up or how ambitious they're going to be. 

"But we're confident if we go and play how we have been, we can go and get the points." 

And what will give them a huge boost is having the backing of a raucous crowd.

The skipper added: "That home support has been amazing all year and it gives us such a lift going out and helps us start games on the front foot.

"And if the fans get behind us and come and show their support and be nice and loud for us, that's exactly what we need and it will really spur us on these next two games."