PAUL Sturrock made a good point this week when he said draws will kill you in this league.

We would much rather win four matches and lose six than draw 10 - because you just don't make any real progress up the league table.

Having said that, I think we have to view it as a good point at Hartlepool. I know the lads were disappointed not to come away with the win, but not many teams take anything away from there.

It's an old cliche but if we keep drawing matches away from home and we win our home games we will not go far wrong.

The gaffer now has a nice selection headache because the four lads that came in for their first start all did very well.

I thought the front two held the ball up well and made it easy for our defence to pick out a pass when they were under pressure.

Miguel also did well at right back, although we knew about him from some of his performances in pre-season.

He has good pace, he's very strong and difficult to get past in a one-on-one situation.

JP took his goal fantastically well, and we all know he's got that little bit of class about him.

I thought Chris Blackburn impressed after coming on to replace Hasney.

It's never easy as a centre-half to come on after only a few minutes because it takes you a while to get used to the tempo of the game.

But I thought he coped admirably, won his tackles and headers and did not look out of place at all.

I speak for everyone at the club when I say we are all hoping to see Hasney back in a Swindon shirt as soon as possible, but football can be a ruthless game at times.

One minute you're fine, the next you twist your knee and have to sit it out for a few months.

Football is also about taking your chances and now it's up to Chris Blackburn to show us all what he can do.

He's already done his apprenticeship with Morecambe in the lower leagues and believe me the Conference is a tough place to play.

Had the injury to Hasney come five weeks ago I would have said Chris was not quite ready, but he's an intelligent lad and he has learned so quickly. He is also up to speed with his fitness now and I am confident he will do a good job.

Looking ahead to Bournemouth we have to believe we can get another win on home soil.

As the gaffer has said, we are creating chances but just not taking them at the moment.

All he can do is set up his team in the way he wants us to play, but if somebody misses from six yards out it's not the manager's fault.

Against Bournemouth we have to be positive and try to take the game to them in the same way we did against Hartlepool in the first half.

The defeat against Yeovil is forgotten about now and we have to start winning - starting on Saturday.

On another note I would like to offer my congratulations to Swindon speedway for reaching the play-off final.

My dad used to take me to the speedway when we lived in Reading, although we were always big rivals of Swindon.

I know there's a few boys from the club going down to watch on Monday night so hopefully I can make it. Let's all get behind the Robins.

Finally, I would like to offer my condolences to the family of Ian Porterfield, who died last week.

Ian was my manager at Reading for a while and he was the most enthusiastic man I have ever worked under.

He will be sorely missed and I am certainly thinking about his family at this sad time for football.

9:27am Thursday 20th September 2007

Print

Email this