There have been many highs and lows this season, and the next two weeks hopefully will add to the former rather than the latter. First up is Villa this evening, where last season we threw away a two goal lead. They are a team who can impose their physicality on the game, play with pace and strength up front and will back themselves to get a result at Villa Park. With Martin O’ Neill they will be prepared and have a game plan in mind. However if we play our football in the correct manner and "get stuck in" much like away at Bolton, I feel we have a chance to take all three points, as a draw isn’t ideal at this stage of the season.

Next up is Man Utd, and I had the chance to go with my brother - a season ticket holder at Old Trafford (an obvious lapse in the gene pool) to the Hull game on Saturday. Without Rooney they are very ordinary, much like Liverpool sans Gerrard and Torres, he is the fulcrum that everything good goes through, and he always plays well against us dating back to his days at Everton. Interestingly Scholes tends to sit deep and spray passes to much less able players (Park and Fletcher), mainly because his legs have gone. It would be interesting if the likes of Diaby and Fabregas could isolate him and create some chances. Importantly they lack a threat on the flanks without Ronaldo, which should give Clichy and Sagna a license to roam forward. I see us winning - just like we should have earlier this season.

Liverpool look to be returning to form and could create some problems if they turn up to THOF2 with the right mentality, but I feel the game at Chelsea will really define where we go in terms of the league this season. I recall a few times where teams have given us a going over at home only for our boys to give just as good back in the return match, a classic example of this was in the 2003-2004 season when Inter came and destroyed us only for us to go to the San Siro - which at the time was a fortress - and win 5-1. If we can give ourselves the underdog mentality, we may go and get a really god result. There are a few testing fixtures after that where points could be dropped, Birmingham and Stoke away spring to mind. So there is plenty of football left to be played if the next four games do not go quite to plan, especially in a season where everyone has dropped points.

Speaking of Stoke I don’t worry too much about the cup defeat. Stoke are a good mid-table side capable of beating anybody on their day, especially the mish mash of squad players and youngsters we put out on Sunday. Quite simply it is very difficult to win the both league and FA Cup, for all the dominance of Man Utd and Chelsea over the past five years neither won the double. We were the last team achieve the feat as far back as 2002. It puts things in perspective. The form of Walcott remains a worry but I reserve judgment until he plays more than five games on the trot.

Finally I watched with much glee as Cameroon lost to Egypt. Eastmond is a work in progress, Denilson is a squad player at best and hopefully Ramsay will usurp him sooner rather than later, and while the Villa game may come too soon, it is with much pleasure I welcome the return of our Song. We’ve only got one after all…