Latics return to league action this afternoon, heading to fourth place Solihull (kick-off 3pm) five points adrift of the top seven.
But with the fixtures historically falling with frequency at this time of the year, Mellon wants them to grasp the chance to move up the table.
“We’ve got to go and attack that and close that gap and try to get into that play-off zone. That’s the challenge and that’s what we’ve got to go and achieve now.
“I’ve never shied away from that, and the games over Christmas give us an opportunity to try to do that.
“That’s every day at a time, not every game at a time. We’re trying to get better all the time and move towards that team that can get us into the play-offs.
“I look at every game as an opportunity to pick up points in a small space of time and all of a sudden you can look at the football world very differently, so it’s a great opportunity for us.
“But we have to take that opportunity now. We prepare well, we work hard in training but we’ve got to deliver on the grass and get us into that play-off zone.”
Mellon, who is looking to add a sixth promotion to his managerial CV with Latics, added: “It will be a tough game because they’re fourth in the league and obviously they’ve been doing an awful lot right to be at that end of the league and we need to win games of football. So we go there and see where we’re up to, but again we’re always looking forward to the games.”
