WHEN England's cricketers knew victory was beyond them in New Zealand this week, it would have been easy for them to change their frame of mind.
They could have stopped playing shots; adopted a defensive approach.
But they didn't. Matt Prior kept playing his shots. He continued to do what he knows how to do best.
And it paid off. They managed to hold on for a draw.
Hardly a glorious moment in English sporting history, I know. But it took guts and determination.
And it did register with me.
Because, between now and the end of the football season, Nottingham Forest must continue to do what they do best.
When it gets to crunch time; when you reach the point in the season where every result, every point and every goal could have massive consequences, it is easy to change your attitude.
When the pressure is on, it is easy to take a step backwards. To subconsciously start trying to avoid defeat, rather than secure victory.
Forest's greatest strengths under Billy Davies have been their work rate, their desire and their hunger to put the opposition under pressure deep inside their own half.
They are positive, they are ambitious and they get into the other teams' faces.
Davies has Forest pushing high up the pitch; he has them playing aggressively.
And it has got them results.
Six wins on the bounce have Forest playing with confidence – and on the brink of equalling a historic record that has stood since 1921.
If they can register another win, when Brighton visit on Saturday, trust me, the rest of the Championship will sit up and take notice.
More specifically, they will start to view Forest with genuine fear.
Even the teams around them in the promotion race will be scared of the momentum Forest are building.
And Forest must embrace that. In fact, they must do everything in their power to amplify it.
When opposition sides look at Forest, they will see a team with momentum and confidence.
But they will also see a squad that is packed with experience; chock full of men who have won promotion from this division before and many who have tested themselves at the highest level.
They are the players that Forest need to stand tall, to play the part of Prior and just do what they do best when the pressure is on.
When I was at Notts County under John Barnwell, we were in the top two for much of the season.
But, as the final few matches approached, as the finishing line loomed on the horizon, something changed.
We started to think about where we were, about what was at stake.
And perhaps we did take that step backwards. We stopped doing what we had been doing – and the results stopped as well.
We went from being full of confidence and belief, to being full of doubt.
We had experienced players who had been there and done it. Myself and Gary Mills had won in Europe and people like Ian McParland, Geoff Pike and Mick Leonard had been there and done it in the game as well.
But we ended up losing in the play-offs. Our season stuttered to a halt.
If Forest can keep doing what they have been doing in these last six or seven games, anything is possible.
You only need to look at the squad to see that.
Two years ago, when Forest were in the play-offs, they lacked genuine strength in depth in many areas. In some positions, they actually had gaping holes – notably at left back.
Now I look at the players who are regularly substitutes or who can't get in the squad at all sometimes and I see genuine quality – players who would walk into many other sides at this level.
Daniel Ayala, Greg Halford, Sam Hutchinson, Dan Harding, Lewis McGugan, Jonathan Greening, Guy Moussi, Simon Gillett, Billy Sharp, Dexter Blackstock, Marcus Tudgay – there is a pretty good team among those players on their own, with the exception of a keeper.
All are players who have found themselves on the bench or on the sidelines at one stage or another, during the unbeaten run.
Henri Lansbury may be carrying a slight knock, he may not be fit for this weekend.
But Forest have McGugan, Greening or Moussi who could immediately slot into his shoes.
Or they could push Cohen into midfield and play Harding at left back.
Gonzalo Jara may be fatigued following his international duty with Chile – but Hutchinson or Halford are ready to slot in.
Davies has options – and good ones – in every position. Forest are well equipped.
If they beat Brighton on Saturday, if they record a seventh straight win, they could find themselves closer to the automatic promotion race.
But forget all about that. Forest need five wins or so to get into the play-offs, that is the important target.
The best way of getting those, however, is by not thinking about such things.
Don't worry about automatic promotion, about play-offs or what might be needed.
Just focus on what has taken you this far, focus on what has made you strong, as a team. And keep doing the same, in every minute of the remaining eight games.
If they can do that, then, like England, they might just grind out the result that they want.
