It almost feels as if Eastleigh’s season has ended.

When the Spitfires play Grimsby on Tuesday it will have been 17 days since the 4-0 win over Lincoln City at the Silverlake, which was the last game they played in any competition.

All the momentum that follows a win like that has evaporated and it is now going to be important to wind this season back up as they eye a top five place.

After last weekend’s postponed Vanarama Conference game against FC Halifax Town and the Wrexham home match getting called off because of the Welsh side’s FA Trophy game, Richard Hill’s side, who were starting to make up their games in hand at the turn of the year, have now re-established as many as three games in hand against the teams around them.

However, despite not playing since January 10, Eastleigh still sit just one place off the play-offs.

Though they could slip down this weekend with results elsewhere, it is a reflection of what has been a tremendous season so far.

And this break could be a good thing for the continuation of that.

The past two weeks wouldn’t have been spent twiddling thumbs waiting for the next game.

It will have given a squad that was starting to show the signs of the gruelling Conference schedule, with niggling injuries starting to creep in, the opportunity to repair and prepare for what could be, come April, a vital run of games for the push to the play-offs.

Whether Hill considers this pause in play a blessing remains to be seen, but it could really play into Eastleigh’s hands.

The Mariners will arrive at Stoneham Lane having played three games in the space of just over a week.

It has turned for Eastleigh into a month with seven games, in to one with five.

The likes of Brian Howard, who signed for Eastleigh at the start of the month, should come back fitter and sharper after time with the squad and Michael Green, who had been suffering with a reoccurring ankle problem, should be able to come back fresher than before.