News: Volcano dust not only thing air traffic control has to worry about.

It's Stoke v Bolton tomorrow and, if people are to believed, the ball will spend more time in the air than Corey Haim when he was taking it easy. Somehow we have managed to score more goals from throw ins than Stoke this year, but that is more to do with Stoke using Rory Delap sparingly and the former manager's tactics than anything else. (Speaking, quickly, of the nameless one, I noticed that Sky gave him some publicity oxygen on Wednesday, but luckily jet lag kicked in just after I heard him speak, which, unfortunately, guaranteed a couple of nightmares in my twelve hour kip).

Of course, we have a new manager now and after another tough set of fixtures, which I have managed to mostly avoid due to being on Planes, Trains and an Automobile, we enter a set of fixtures that are winnable (barring the Spuds). There is a possibility that 32 points will be enough. It is hard to see where the teams below us are going to pick up points except when they play each other and Portsmouth will be resting players before the cup final, giving us a chance to pick up the three points which will be enough.

As for the Stoke game, it is possible to see a point coming. The players will still be on a high from Tuesday and will certainly still be smarting from the two penalty decisions. Stoke are known for playing a one dimensional way, pretty much the way that we have played in parts of the season, and it may be possible to play football around them. It would be interesting to see if St Owen keeps the same team, and they would certainly deserve it. Even Matty Taylor, who the manager singled out for praise after his performance. I saw thirty minutes of the Tuesday game, eschewing the shower in the hotel at Heathrow, and his pearler of a cross would have resulted in a goal if it hadn't landed on the 50p head of the misfiring Swede.

Of the Stoke game, St Owen says

we know that it will be a tough contest and we have to be ready for it. But we have to play our own game and look to show our qualities.

That nice mummy's boy Ryan Shawcross is out injured, which should spare a couple of broken ankles, and the good news is that Stoke are one of those teams that, man for man, we are better than, Abdi Faye notwithstanding. However, in the slow limp to the line we at The Towers will go for a 1-1 draw. That would assume we score of course.

There is more to be said, of course, and a lot has happened over the past four weeks, including the unveil of ANOTHER new kit. But some of us have to work the weekend, so that will be it for today. The end of the season is just around the bend, my huckleberry friend.