The Blackpool win was a great result and by all accounts City were worthy winners. They would’ve taken the confidence from the Newcastle draw into the game and it was good to see them answer my rallying call from last week and score a couple of goals away from home!

Bloomfield Road is a tough place to go and it’s always nice to get one over on former boss Ian Holloway. It was a big result for City and a first win in the league since Boxing Day’s clash with Sheffield United.

Tuesday’s home game against Doncaster was a frustrating contest with Matty Fryatt’s fractured jaw, the main talking point. First of all I’d like to take the opportunity to wish Matty all the best and a very speedy recovery.

It looked a nasty one right away and my immediate thoughts were that he’d broken his neck. You could tell it was serious as the players surrounded him, Nigel Pearson was on the pitch and people were saying his family had been called for.

I’ve not seen the replay so I can’t really comment on the challenge, but from seeing it live, my first thought was that it was a bit clumsy. Nigel Pearson definitely wasn’t happy with it after the game and he’s not daft, so maybe it was a bad one. It was definitely pretty reckless and there wasn’t any need for Brian Stock to go in that hard. I never took a knock like that thankfully, but I dished out a few! To be honest, I still feel a few twinges in my arm from time to time after my collision with Shrewsbury striker David Geddis’ jaw in the 80’s.

Having Fryatt out for eight weeks is obviously going to be a big miss. He’s our top scorer and capable of going on a great run of form at any point. I’d be surprised if we see Matty back firing on all cylinders before the end of the season. It’ll take him a while to get his fitness and sharpness back and taking a knock like that can have an affect on your confidence.

I see it as a massive opportunity for the other strikers at the club to prove themselves. Howard and Kermorgant will both be thinking they could’ve contributed more this season and now’s their chance. Waghorn and Gallagher have impressed in deeper roles, but they could excel through the middle.

Following Fryatt’s injury, the atmosphere and the game went a bit flat, which is understandable. I was expecting a bit more from Doncaster who are usually a decent footballing side, but they just came to the Walkers to shut up shop and grind out a point.

In tight games it’s so important to take your chances and City had a couple of decent ones. I’m sure a few of the boys will feel as though they could’ve done a bit better. It was a bit of a tired performance. Perhaps the players’ efforts against Blackpool on Saturday and playing with ten men for so long against Newcastle the week before, took its toll.

I think we suffered again from another poor referring performance, this time from Russell Booth. All the refs seem to be against us at the moment. You get periods like that. I remember I went through a spell of getting cautioned nearly every game and a lot of them I should never have been booked for. My reputation was obviously the issue and I’m sure many referees made their mind up to book me before I’d even got on the pitch.

Taking the positives from the Doncaster game, it was another clean sheet and the point keeps us in the play-offs, with games in hand. The way things are shaping up we could play Forest in the play-off semi finals, which would be massive. There’s still a lot of football to be played though, and I’m sure Pearson will be focusing on one game at a time.

Next up, it’s Scunthorpe at the Walkers on Saturday. Like Doncaster, The Iron are struggling at the wrong end of the table and I can see them starting with a similar game plan.

Scunny lost to West Brom in the week, which is no disgrace given the way the The Baggies are playing at the moment. The Iron’s Joe Murphy is a top keeper and they’ve got a man mountain of a centre half in 6’ 7” Rob Jones. If Steve Howard gets a start that could be a tasty encounter!

I had a great night last Saturday at the Wheel Inn in Rearsby where I presented a cheque to LOROS on behalf of the guys at the pub who raised some cash by holding a Boxing Day tug of war. LOROS is a cracking charity and I’m always keen to help out in any way I can.

I’ve mentioned a possible play-off semi-final contest with our old rivals Forest and there could be another spicy encounter between the clubs on the cards in the next few months. I’m in the process of organising a classic match up between Leicester Legends and Forest Legends. It’s early days yet, but I’d imagine there would be a fair bit of interest from both sets of supporters!

For this week’s wager I’m backing West Brom, Swansea and Norwich. Fitzy from Turner & Kendrick will be donating a £25 bet for Wishes4Kids.

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