Middlesbrough's upcoming game against Oxford United on Saturday (15:00 GMT) is a must-win as they fight for automatic promotion, said the Northern Echo's Dom Shaw.
The U's are six points away from safety in the bottom three, while Middlesbrough's defeat to Coventry City on Monday means they now trail the Sky Blues by one point at the top of the table.
The Teesside club then host a struggling Leicester City side on Tuesday, 24 February (19:45 GMT), who are also in the relegation zone after a six point deduction.
But while the journalist sees Oxford as a "kind fixture" for Boro following a difficult loss to the league leaders, he does believe a victory will go a long way in rebuilding morale.
"If Boro can win both of those games – and even better, if they can win at least one emphatically – [it will help] get rid of any anxiety in the stands even before it's even allowed to settle in," Shaw told BBC Radio Tees.
"There was such a buzz about the place, about Boro, about the town ahead of Coventry. That hasn't disappeared because of one defeat.
"If you go and win well against Oxford on Saturday, that Coventry defeat will be forgotten about."
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