In our short time in existence here in north Herts, Nub News has published more than 25 opinion columns from a diverse range of people and groups within our community.

Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We highlight many of these businesses, organisations and individuals regularly in a feature called 'Up Close in Hitchin' - as well as fascinating opinion pieces from our trusted cohort of Nub News contributors.

So, we're excited to announce we've signed up the brilliant Jay Drackford as he pens his first Stevenage FC column for us.

Read on for Jay's positive take on the club.

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To say Stevenage FC has faced huge obstacles on and off the pitch over the last few months after a disappointing campaign last term is an understatement.

The uncertainty over worrying about whether Boro would still be a league club or not was difficult for us all, the club, its staff, players and of course its loyal fans.

Then there was the challenge of rebuilding the squad and playing personnel, ready for League Two football after Macclesfield were demoted instead of us.

And that's without Boro having to exist without supporters through the turnstiles and other forms of matchday revenue, thanks to the Covid crisis.

Yet, while there is so much more to come from Alex Revell's team, off the field everyone associated with Stevenage FC can be so proud of the club's community based efforts since the coronavirus pandemic struck.

We should be proud of Boro's efforts in the community

Everyone at the club deserves credit for stepping up in trying times.

The club have done an amazing job with their Coronavirus Community Careline project.

This saw the club provide support to the community with friendly chat, 15,000 sandwiches, 350 community errands, 500 calls to vulnerable people, weekly zoom calls to walking footballers and so much more.

This week the club have won the Herts Sports Partnership Chairman's award and recently our club chairman, Phil Wallace, who has been at the club since 1999, was honoured with a British Empire Medal in the Queens Honour list for services to Association Football and to the community of Hertfordshire.

Reasons to be cheerful

On the pitch we have a lot of reasons to be cheerful and look to the future with optimism under boss Revell.

With the ever-positive Alex at the helm, the club set out to create a new Boro DNA ahead of the League Two campaign, and to right the wrongs from last season.

The task ahead would be difficult in not knowing if we would be starting in League Two or The National Conference League.

However, players were bought in from lower leagues who showed the right character to pull on the Boro shirt, as well as a handful of Football League players such as Luke Prosser and Romain Vincent.

To give you an idea of how tough this has been take a look at some of our rivals.

Salford City spent £20m on recruitment

Salford City, for example, had already spent £20 million before Stevenage had even begun their recruitment process.

Alex has asked all players to aim high, always believe in themselves and be relentless in their work.

Games have come thick and fast this season and currently we are sat 18th in the table ahead of today's derby with Orient, with just one win in seven games in the league.

Newport reflections

Our last game out was against Newport County on Tuesday.

We came up against a team who are now sat in second position in the league after only losing to top of the table Cambridge United this season.

County were organised and well managed and used the clock to their advantage wherever possible and I expect them to end up around the play-off spots.

Positives for Boro fans were that a goal wasn't conceded in open play, while the stats tell us that we had 49 per cent possession with 13 shots against Newport's seven.

Danny Newton

Where we are struggling this term is in converting these chances.

Danny Newton is fit and back playing after putting pen to paper with us again in the summer. A player who is bullish in his approach and loves to run and players with pace.

Within minutes of starting on Tuesday he had lobbed the keeper on the half volley, but only the crossbar saved him opening his account this season.

He needs a run of games to regain his confidence and I'm sure once the first goal comes the team will push on.

The club has invested in strikers, but at the minute they simply haven't clicked. The formation has been tweaked recently but Alex and his men have yet to find the winning formula to get us up the league.

In other areas of the pitch Stevenage have missed one of the fans favourites from last season in Charlie Carter.

Charlie was injured at the start of the season with a serious injury and we are missing his midfield presence and goals.

We hope to see him back out there soon and this will bring us some much-needed link up play with the strikers and the goals we need.

Leyton Orient preview

The next few games sees us playing teams around us in the table, with the east Londoners first up at the Lamex later today.

They will again be a tricky opponent, but it's also a chance for us to get some points on the board. We need to move as a unit and press higher up the field to make our presence known.

We certainly have some exciting players when we attack, in the likes of Elliott List, Inih Effiong and Jack Aitchison - we simply need to find the consistency and shape to make these players come alive.

I'm hopeful of four points in the next three games, which will elevate us away from the clutches of basement sides and gives the management team time to embed their beliefs into this relatively new side.

Up the Boro!

I've called for the fanbase on social media to stay together and think about last season and where our starting point is this season. Recruitment had to be realistic at the time.

Yet, one thing is for sure, this isn't the time to panic just yet.

Alex and the team need time to get things right and learn from each other.

Let's hope the next few games give us the points needed for this to happen.

Up the Boro!

Jay