Things aren't getting much better down at Feethams. We have now gone seven games without a win and the pressure is on us big style to get a result on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.

Hopefully we will have a couple of new faces in the squad to give everyone a lift. There could be a possible return for former favourite Marco Gabbiadini. Gabbas would add some much needed experience to the squad and would take a bit of the pressure off me and Neil Maddison who are the only over 30s in the squad.

We all have a moan in training but Gabbas is king of the moaners. He is a fantastic lad but he could moan for England. On a serious note though it would be great to have him back not just for his experience on the pitch but in the dressing room as well.

The Tyne-Wear derby - for me at least - mirrored our derby against Hartlepool. Sunderland put in a performance similar to ours where they were second best for the entire game. Not that I was complaining though as I did make a few quid off a couple of Sunderland supporters in our squad who were silly enough to think Sunderland had a chance of winning.

Speaking of Newcastle the Craig Bellamy headbutting incident has proved you can't get away with anything these days especially at the highest level. Every incident is caught on camera and although I don't condone what he did I feel a bit sorry for him losing the chance to play in three massive Champions' League games for the club.

Another striker in the headlines over the weekend was Michael Owen. It was only a matter of time before he bounced back and rammed all those headlines down peoples throats. Plenty of people have been having a go about the amount of chances he has been missing but I think both him and his manager would of been more worried if he wasn't getting in the positions to miss those chances.

Since my last column I was injured against York City when I picked up a lovely five-inch gash across my thigh. The injury itself probably looked worse than it actually was. There was no damage to the muscle but, without going in too much of the gory details, when I looked down after the tackle happened I could see right inside my thigh which wasn't a very pleasant sight. Any footballer will tell you the worst part of the job is being injured. It has been a long two weeks for me and my family who have had to put up with my constant moaning and bad moods.

But it hasn't all been gloom and doom as the Middlesbrough under-11 team that I help coach with Paul Dalton have put in a couple of fantastic performances beating both Newcastle and Blackburn. The kids seem to get better every week and some of their performances have to be seen to be believed they really are that good at the minute.

Published: 01/10/2002