Fans’ Favourite Jake Won’t Sugar Coat The Shots’ Situation

He could tell them it’ll be alright in the end, but it’s not in his character.

The midfielder knows, unless a miracle happens, this will be the club’s last live TV performance for a while.

He knows too there are no guarantees about anything if relegation was to happen.

His club, play-off competitors last season, are ten points from safety with a far inferior goal difference. They only have six games left to pull off the greatest of all great escapes.

Although nothing will be confirmed this weekend against AFC Fylde, he doesn’t want to BT Sport cameras to capture a wake before any coffins have been nailed.

“Stranger things have happened I’m sure,” he said, probably wracking his brain to try and find one.

“But clearly it’s very difficult now. It’s football so you never quite know, we can’t and won’t give up but we need to win four probably five.

“Seeing as we have won twice in five months nearly, that probably paints a clear enough picture.”

He’s not wrong, but how can a team go from being a few games from promotion to having its midfielder talk like that with four weeks still to play?

“We lost a lot of good, important players,” added Gallagher, who signed from Welling United back in 2015.

“I honestly thought we recruited well in the close season. The manager signed some good players and I was impressed but injuries at important times was damaging.

“We didn’t good business but once the season started maybe the players we came in didn’t cut it. The standard is high and maybe we were lacking.

“Once the rot sent in we struggled to escape it.”

Gallagher is one of many players not under contract next season and he gave us some telling insight to what life is like when you’re a professional footballer and things aren’t going your way.

“It’s cut-throat,” he added. “Professional footballers have great lives, there’s no doubt about it.

“They do something they love for a living but there’s a whole other side to it.

“It’s a difficult industry at the best of times but when you’ve had a poor season it is even more demanding.

“I believe only two of our players are under contract for next season. If the club does get relegated then it clearly becomes that much harder.

“If you want to carry on in this business then you have to be playing well. Nothing else matters.

“We’re not down yet. It’s tough, really tough, but it’s not impossible. What we need to do is show price and show fight.”

The game will all be shown live on BT Sport 1 and on 4KUHD - kick-off 12.35pm.