The valley view

By Hermann Hreidarsson on May 1, 2007 12:00 AM |

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REGULAR readers of this column will probably recall that last week, following our disappointing home draw against Sheffield United, I was talking at length about the fact that while it was a setback for us, nothing was decided.
I don't wish to sound like a broken record, to use a very English phrase, but that is pretty much the situation after our 4-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as well.
Before I explain what I mean though, I want to extend a very sincere thank you to every one of the near 6,000 people that made the long trip to support us at Ewood Park.

I can tell you that the players were very touched indeed by the turnout, and to run out of the tunnel at an away ground to that kind of noise from that many fans was a massive lift for us.
We're only sorry we were not able to send them away happy, but I hope most of them could see the huge effort
we put in as a team. Of course, it was a disappointing coach ride home, but to go back to what I was saying earlier, nothing is set in stone yet and we need to focus on the fact that Premiership football next season remains very much up for grabs.
As I write this in the canteen at our Sparrows Lane training ground, it feels good that I'm not having to write about us trying and failing to stay in the Premiership.
As it stands now, we have two games left and a possible six points, and we know that if we can just piece together back-to-back wins when we need it most, there's every chance we'll stay up.
Two points is all that is separating us from safety and even though we have two tough games remaining in Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, we're not even thinking about our opposition.
We've had a long meeting about the situation and as far as we're concerned they're two games we need to win and we're going to be doing everything in our power to make that happen.
I tell you this: there have been much stranger things happen in this game we all know and love than a team like us winning two consecutive Premiership games.
I'll tell you something else as well: if we can get a victory against Spurs next Monday, we're going to be like wild men possessed when we travel to Liverpool, maybe needing a win to stay up on the final day of the season.
We will have extra incentive for the Spurs game as well because all of our rivals will have played by the time they make the trip to The Valley from White Hart Lane.
West Ham United are at home to Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic host Middlesbrough, and if they both lose and we beat Spurs we're out of it again.
That's the way we have to look at it, and those are the results we have to hope for. Bring it on.
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