WHILE the rest of the lads have been running about in the ice and the snow this week I have been back on the treatment table - and I am sick of it.

Having got over my back problem, I suffered a thigh strain last weekend and so it has been back in with Sos (physio Ian Liversedge) again this week although I was hoping to be back in training today.

I have been doing all the stretching and stuff and had a swim yesterday, which went well. The rest of the lads have had quite a hard week but I can't wait to join them.

I had been virtually injury free all season and then in the last few weeks I seem to have suffered one thing after another. In fact it has become a bit of a nightmare and all I am hoping is that this is the last problem and I will be okay from now on.

This is a crucial part of the season and I want to be fully fit for the final push. What I don't want is to be stop and start, in and out.

Matches like the one at Coventry on Saturday are massive ones and no one wants to miss them. We know we blew it against Reading, it was a game we thought we could win, but we now have to put it behind us.

We have been there before, too often this season in fact, but there is no point in dwelling on it, we have to bounce back.

The top six is still there for us even though we are 17th but we need to put a good run together now. Coventry is the first in a series of big matches but we have managed some good runs this season.

That was the surprising thing about last weekend because we had been doing well. Now we have to get back to playing as we can.

For me, it will just be good to get going, full stop. The manager admitted at the weekend that midfielders are a bit thin on the ground. Last year we had Kevin Ball and he never seemed to miss a game in his two years at the club, he was a real warrior in midfield.

Now it is up to the rest of us to battle on and hopefully I will be able to play a full part, starting against Coventry.

TALKING of Bally, I am not at all surprised that he has now got a job at Sunderland - the man is a legend there.

To be honest, I would not bet against him being the manager there in about ten years time. He has a lot of affection for the club, the fans still love him and he lives in the area.

I would have to say he is the most passionate player I have ever played with.