The positive way to look at it would be that we're three wins away from Wembley.
Batley are playing Rochdale and Dewsbury are playing Swinton in the last 16. There could be a 'softer tie' awaiting in the last eight. There are two other Championship One sides left in the competition: Workington and Newcastle.
We got to the Northern Rail cup final when we were in this division but it must be said we were top of the league then! We lost in the final to Salford. I think it was 56-0. The Northern Rail train that took us to Blackpool broke down. There was some irony there!
Attitude, discipline and self-belief are critical in any sport but now is the time for Richard Horne to instill this into his players and get the best out of them. No game played between two teams from our league is beyond anyone (except W Wales).
If we get thumped this weekend, spirits won't be high for the league game next week. If we win in the league, then the league will seemingly take a different shape altogether. We'd only be two points behind Oldham.
Regarding the league, teams have one game left before we're halfway through the season. I tend to put more emphasis on points difference than league table points when judging how good teams are. This is how it stands at the moment:
Oldham +158
Hunslet +94
Newcastle +94
Whitehaven +79 (Not played Coventry)
Dons +50
N Wales +21
Keighley +12
Workington +0 (Not played W Wales)
London -45
Coventry -87
W Wales -376
Oldham look best. This puts into perspective the challenge we face in our next two games.
London are interesting. They lost 34-4 to Oldham, they lost 48-12 to Newcastle, and 32-6 to Whitehaven. They might not be as good as their second placed league position suggests. Could they fade away in the second half of the season? Workington should get a 'points difference boost' when they play W Wales.
There's clearly still everything to play for and a top five position isn't beyond the Dons but I suspect we're going to have to up our game to get there based on what the above numbers are telling us at the moment.
Personally, I'm not too bothered about the cup game - getting out of that with no more injuries would be a good result.
What happens in the home game against Oldham won't define our season but it could go some way towards shaping it as we might have to beat them in the play-offs later in the season, if we get there.
The big battle is the week after ( as if we did not know) 
