Next Two Up

[Spirit of 2000]

Middlesbrough & Hull City – important to get all 6 pts against these two. Yes Boro' away is never going to be easy and yes Hull beat Forest yesterday, but if we're serious about promotion these are exactly the games we need to win. Yes all sides will have slip ups – we've already had our fair share. In the overall scheme of things I can take a defeat at Stoke – even if they were bottom, as their squad is a top end one and they're going to be resurgent at some point, plus of course we always lose at Stoke other than when Chris Baird scores twice! Following these next 2 games we enter a period of difficult fixtures that sees us take on Birmingham (A), QPR (H), Derby (H), Swansea (A), Bristol C (H), Preston (A). Brentford (A) & Leeds U (H). Anything from 12 points or more will actually be a reasonable return from those 8 , especially given we have yet to beat any side in the top half! So no Stoke mark 2 slip ups can be entertained this weekend if we're going to be serious contenders.