DAVID Ball insists City can stand up to the pressure of winning their survival “mini-league”.

They face a vital Valley Parade double-header before Christmas against Walsall on Saturday and then Stuart McCall’s Scunthorpe.

The gap to the Iron in the last safety spot currently stands at six points and Ball knows they must make home advantage count as they did in the recent victory over fellow strugglers Oxford.

He said: “It is almost like a mini-league down there. We want to be top of that and we have some really important games coming up at home.

“We have to be at our best and need Valley Parade to be a fortress.

“I played here as an away player a few times and never won. It always felt like the fans were sucking the ball into the net for the home team.

“It is up to us to show the fight and desire that gets the fans on our side. That is exactly what we need.

“Every game matters to us all. Everyone’s life is on the line.

“People’s contracts and livelihoods are dependent on how the club does.

“As the 11 players who go on to the pitch, we have to fight for all those people too and get us out of where we are in the league.

“It is so important for this club to stay where it is.”

Ball scored one and set another up in the FA Cup thriller with Peterborough on Tuesday, before City eventually bowed out on penalties after the game finished 4-4.

But the fans appreciated watching their side recover from two goals down to lead at one stage and Ball can sense a level of togetherness on and off the field - which will be needed for the crucial games to come.

“We must prove we can pull ourselves out of this,” he said.

“I think you can see the team is more together than it has been at any stage this season.

“The crowd is right behind the team as well. We all need to pull together.

“Ultimately, we will make that difference on the pitch by doing the sort of things that get the fans behind us.

“They are seeing that the players are running and fighting. We are doing everything to get ourselves out of this position and that is all they want to see.

“If we do that then they will back us in numbers. We know that.

“It is so important that we work together as fans, players, everyone to get this club out of trouble.”

Ball has previously admitted that being sucked into a relegation dogfight has come as a shock. Having won promotion with parent club Rotherham last year after reaching the play-offs for Fleetwood, he did not anticipate a season at the wrong end of the table.

But he has the stomach for the battle ahead.

“It is not what I expected. But this is the scenario I find myself in. I have been in this position once and ultimately got out of it.

“So, I do know how to fight and what it takes to stay up. It isn’t a time for individuals, the collective is what matters.

“Being in this sort of position means you have to dig that bit deeper.

“Once you do that as a group, you can come out the other end.”