In less than four weeks, Bristol City's Championship fate will be decided; another campaign consigned to the history books with barely time to draw breath as the Robins face seven more season-defining matches to take the action beyond May 5 and into the play-offs.
After a winless run of five matches, the cries of, "same old City" began to ring out, even the head coach was joking to himself as "Streaky" Lee Johnson with the situation eerily reminiscent of last year as his side slid down the table as the fixtures, swollen by the EFL Cup, built up.
But for midfielder Marlon Pack, this season is different. Lessons have been learned and preparation has been steadfast in ensuring the Robins arrive at this run-in with maximum conditioning and not leave anything out on the field, physically and mentally.
The 2-2 draw against Wigan was a slight bump in the road but should not take away what had been an excellent week for the club following back-to-back away wins against fellow promotion candidates Sheffield United and Middlesbrough.
With fourth-placed West Brom in town on Tuesday, Pack, who with 3,475 league minutes in the Championship this season has more miles on the clock than any of his teammates, has urged his side to go for it down this final stretch.
"For me personally, it's just going for it a bit more, trying to play without any fear," said the holding midfielder. "Not saying that we didn't do that last season but we're in a great position, this is where we all want to be as professional footballers.
"Especially in the Championship; you want to be fighting for promotion, you want to be in and around the play-offs. That's the aim at the start of the season so we're in there.
"We haven't achieved anything yet but let's go out with a real energy and willingness to win games, and win games for each other."
Such is the intensity of the play-off run-in, with just six points separating Villa in fifth and 11th-placed Hull City, Pack admits the players can't help themselves but check results around them after a game as the standings constantly take on a different composition.
It's a pattern that will continue until the final fixture of the regular season at Hull City on May 5 with City now cramming their final seven league matches into 27 days - a game every four days, on average.
"We're on the rundown now and it really is all systems go. We can't afford to dwell on too much because the games are coming thick and fast, we're two games a week now until the end of the season," Pack added.
"You're rolling into games regardless of the [previous] result. If you're on a good run it keeps the momentum going, and that will be the aim for us now as a team is to keep the momentum going.
"The club are great for us in terms of nutrition, massages, recovery - it is as professional as it can be. Someone like me, I've played the game long enough now to know what I need personally to make sure I'm ready for Tuesday.
"Last season was just as intense with the cup run, we played plenty of games, but I don't think you had quite a finish like this when the last eight/nine games are in the space of four weeks.
"So it is pretty relentless and it's down to us to get through those and hopefully get as many wins as possible."
