A strange conclusion

WE have two games left now and it will be a strange finish to the season in that ever since I’ve been at this club, we’ve nearly always had something to play for going into the last two games of the season.

Last season, we were still going for a play-off place on the final day and there have also been occasions when we’ve been fighting to stay up.

We’re playing for pride in our last two games but we’ll still be trying to get maximum points from both games and finish as high in the table as we can.

Our focus over the next couple of games will be to finish the season on a high.

We play Swindon Town in our final home game of the season at the Weston Homes Community Stadium on Saturday and the home fans have been fantastic this season, as have our away fans.

They’ve turned up to watch us rain or shine and it’s important for us to go out there and put in a performance, on Saturday.

Swindon will probably feel the same as us, having been up in and around it all season but then missing out on the play-offs.

They will go into the game without a win in seven matches and we’ve lost our last three league games, although I don’t think those defeats against Lincoln City, Notts County and Accrington Stanley have been a fair reflection of our performances.

We have two games of the season still to play and after that, we’ll sit down and look at how things have gone this season and have a bit of a debrief.

It’s very disappointing to miss out on the play-offs, especially as throughout the season I’d been certain we would make it.

We built a run over Christmas which gave us a lot of momentum and I remember thinking after our win at Crawley Town on Boxing Day that we would be well set, going into the second half of the season but unfortunately, it’s not turned out to be that way.

It’s been key moments that haven’t gone our way.

Sincil Bank sucker punch

IT’S always a bit of a sucker punch whenever you concede in the last minute to draw or lose a game.

We all felt that we’d done enough to get at least a draw at Lincoln City last weekend and arguably a win, so it was a very disappointing result.

But there were positives in the performance and Lincoln is a difficult place to go to and get a result.

Their crowd got right behind them and they’re a very strong, physical team.

We had defended very well and we knew that we’d have to do that against a side who are very aerial.

We felt that we had done enough once we’d equalised to go on and get a winner especially when they had someone sent off, albeit harshly.

It was no real surprise to see Michael Bostwick’s red card rescinded.

They had a great result at Coventry City on Tuesday night and I think anyone who ends up playing them in the play-offs will be in for a very difficult game.

They’ve already had one trip to Wembley this season after winning the Checkatrade Trophy there and I’d imagine Danny Cowley’s team talk will be along the lines of ‘let’s get ourselves back there and win again’.

A blistering attack

WHAT a result for Liverpool the other night.

I called it a few weeks ago that they would make it into the Champions League Final and it looks like that will happen, although Roma will still feel that they have a chance of scoring those two away goals at Anfield.

But Liverpool are blistering in attack, with Mo Salah, Firmino and Sadio Mane and I can certainly see them scoring in Rome.

Hopefully, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be OK after his knee injury, as he could potentially play a key role for England at the World Cup.

I think Mo Salah was a worthy winner of the Player of the Year award.

Any other season, Kevin de Bruyne would have won it, especially after being part of a Premier League-winning side.

But he’s come up against a player in Salah who has scored so many incredible goals and has dragged this Liverpool team along with him, this season.

Firmino and Mane have been outstanding, too.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Salah won the Ballon d’Or too, although the fact that his two main rivals for the accolade – Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – both play for countries likely to challenge for the World Cup this summer might go against him.

Salah's Roman revival

I WAS lucky enough to work with Mo Salah when he was at Chelsea.

He was there at the same time as Nemanja Matic’s first spell there and played in the reserves with them.

Back then, they were nowhere near where they are now as players.

I remember Mo Salah being very quiet and humble and that’s how he still comes across now.

I can’t remember too much about him as a player, back then and I can only remember him playing ten to 20 games for Chelsea.

But he went away to Rome, did the business there and now it looks like he might well play his part in knocking his old club out of this season’s Champions League.

It was great scouting on Liverpool’s behalf to identify what he’d done and bring him back to England.

I remember Matic playing in a reserve game at Villa – we lost 5-4 and I recall one or two players wondering at that time what kind of player the club had signed.

But they have gone away and come back to the Premier League and made a massive impact.

Kevin de Bruyne was similar at Chelsea, as was Romelu Lukaku – now look at him, he’s playing as a number nine for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Arsene for England?

THE news of Arsene Wenger’s departure from Arsenal came a bit out of the blue, last Friday morning.

We have a few Arsenal fans in our changing room particularly Kane Vincent-Young, who has felt for a while that it might be time for a change at the Emirates.

That’s happened now but a lot of the people who were calling for his head and have been saying silly things are now giving him the respect that he undoubtedly deserves.

I’m not an Arsenal fan but I would love to see him now go on and lead them to victory in the Europa League Final and go out with a bang.

I still think he will be within the game and he still has lots to offer.

He’s been at Arsenal for 22 years and he may just want to take a rest – he’s not given too much away about his future plans since the announcement was made.

But I think he could get any job he likes – maybe even the England job!

I'm a cricket purist

SO the ECB are looking to introduce a 100-ball competition from the year 2020.

Now, I’m a purist at heart and I still find Test Match cricket exciting.

I realise that might sound a bit strange with T20 being the way it is but for me, the longer format of the game can still be exhilarating.

I understand that the ECB are looking to be innovative and trying to draw an audience and that’s needed but essentially, they’re trying to simplify the game by making it more complicated.

For me, it all seems a little confusing and it’ll be a completely different style of cricket.

I’m surprised they’ve gone away from T20, because that’s been so successful all over the world.

But like in any sport, you have to be constantly innovative and looking to move forward.

Stick with it

APPARENTLY, Roy of the Rovers magazine is set to make a comeback after 17 years.

Personally, I didn’t buy it the first time around but I was a reader of Match magazine, every week.

I also collected stickers as a kid and with the World Cup coming up, there’s a bit of a cult following at the moment.

I don’t think any of the boys are collecting – at least, I don’t think you’d find anyone who’d admit to it given our ages!