I have to start this week's column by offering my condolences to John Gorman and his family after the death of his wife Myra on Sunday night.

It has been a terrible start to the year off the pitch for John, one of the nicest men in the game, and your heart goes out to him.

The way he handled Mark Philo's death shows what a great, compassionate person he is. We cannot imagine what John is going through so can only wish him all the best and give him as much mourning time as he needs.

But life goes on and success at sport is a way of making an appropriate tribute to those lost ones.

Wycombe have clearly been the best team in this league all season, but we find ourselves in second place. The players and staff have coped admirably with the traumas off the pitch, but you have to feel they have been affected a great deal.

We should be talking about an outstanding 2-1 victory over local rivals, Oxford United, Wycombe's complete dominance of the midfield and Tommy Mooney's goal scoring celebration.

The failure of the team to score more deserved goals, the sloppy defending for Oxford's goal, and Gorman's tragedy, means that we are not.

So where now? Well, Cheltenham on Saturday. Another tough game but another game we can and must win.

Wycombe Wanderers have been through so much off the field this season together. They really deserve to gain the inner strength to win a few games of football and win the league title.

Despite recent injuries to Stefan Oakes, Matt Bloomfield and Joe Burnell, the core of our midfield, other players have come in and done their jobs.

In fact I would say we have our strongest squad since we joined the Football League. There is solid back-up in every position. This is the main reason why I believe we can still win this league.

The returns of Keith Ryan, Will Antwi and Charlie Griffin give us further options. Our promotion rivals may have hit form recently, but do they have strong strength in depth? I'm not so sure. Remember it is a marathon not a sprint.

I will be very disappointed if the team are unable to win the league, because they deserve to.

Ian Baker is on the Board of Wycombe Wanderers Supporters Trust. For further details about the Trust and how to join please see www.wwst.org.