Dear Supporter,
There's nothing worrying, injury-wise, ahead of the Birmingham game. Maybe just a bit of tiredness, which you always get at this time of year with so many games. Other than that, everyone's fine.
Mikael Silvestre got a neck injury against Blackburn, then did it again while doing some sit-ups. He travelled with us to Middlesbrough but we left him back in the hotel. He wasn't ready to play.
It's frustrating to have lost to Blackburn and Boro. But they were two difficult away games, as their home form is very good this year. Middlesbrough are unbeaten at home and Blackburn's home form is very good. They're not easy venues, but we have to say we've been caught on counter-attacks. We were in control of both matches and got caught - that's what's frustrating. You have to make sure you've got the patience to play. If we'd had that we would have won.
Yesterday we didn't make many chances. They sat very tight to their back four, played very deep and invited us onto them. At Blackburn we had six great chances in the first half and they scored with their first attempt on goal. That's disappointing. At Middlesbrough Barthez had one save in the first half, so to lose a goal just before half-time was a killer blow. Losing another goal just after half-time was even worse. It was an uphill struggle after that. We did well to show the determination to get back into it, and at 2-1 it looked like we were going to do it. But their third goal, on the counter-attack, was always going to be a problem for us as we were risking so much.
We have to win our next two games, Birmingham and Sunderland at home. Home form is going to be very important this season, I think. I'll look at our side in terms of freshness, and see where we can bring in one or two players. We'll have to see how Roy Keane is after the exertions of yesterday. That was his first full game at that level. He did remarkably well but we'll have to see how he's come through it. The other players have got the wherewithall to carry on, that's the way the English game is. One or two will need freshening up, though.
Steve Bruce has done very well. He's got a lot of enthusiasm about him, and he was the same as a player. I'm sure his team reflect that. They're determined, enthusiastic, energetic and they have a great chance of staying in the Premiership as they're getting consistently good results.
Any team that comes out of the First Division into the Premiership finds it difficult. There have been one or two exceptions - Ipswich had a golden season but went down the next season. It's important to get off to a good start, which Birmingham did. Hopefully they'll gather experience as they go along.
It's vital for us to get a run together again. I don't know how it's happened, but we had a great run with twelve players to choose from, and when we get everyone back we start losing games. I don't know if it's coincidence, but it's certainly strange. They were difficult away games, though, but the other top teams will have to go to Blackburn and Middlesbrough and they'll find it difficult.
