MANAGER Hakan Hayrettin wants to cocoon his Braintree Town team in a bubble of positivity as they prepare for one of the most crucial games in the club’s history.

While the Iron’s Vanarama National League survival chances look slim, there is still hope that they can escape relegation on the final day of the season on Saturday.

They need to win at promotion-chasing Aldershot Town as well as having at least two other results going their way and Hayrettin knows his team need to stay positive to fulfil their part of the bargain.

But he feels it’s not just the players that need to keep believing and wants everyone associated with Braintree Town - both staff and fans - to not bring them down with any negativity this week.

He said: “People may think that we’re down and have been saying that, but we’re not down.

“There have been some who have been so negative and it’s been going on for three months now – it’s ridiculous.

“Absolutely ridiculous.

“You have to be transparent and I’ll keep doing my job the best that I can.

“I have tried to stay positive through all of this and it’s been nothing but hard work to motivate the players and get them going again.

“We have tried our best and if we haven’t succeeded then so be it.

“But I think transparency is needed at the football club.

“I’m trying to be positive but whichever corner I turn, it seems to be negative.

“There are people, like the chairman, who have worked so hard to keep what they have got and they do a wonderful job.

“But there are other people around who have been negative.

“Come on!

“This is it now and we have to do it.

“If anyone has read the notes I write (in the programme), I’ve been saying it for the last month – more than a month.

“Of course it’s the players who get the results and they will be the ones who try to keep the club up, but they also read things.

“They’re not stupid.

“We just have to go again and keep fighting.

“They don’t want to lose and they have been brilliant.”