Well, in the ideal world, three things would have happened yesterday:

1. West Brom would have lost to Leicester… which they did, thumped 4-1, a very strange result.
2. Stoke would have drawn with Watford… which they did, in the dull 0-0 draw that they both derserved, an entirely predictable result.
3. City would have beaten Plymouth… which we didn’t, a surprise and a huge disappointment.

There’s probably a parallel universe somewhere in which all three results went our way, but I wasn’t there, so I have to be as positive as possible about the reality of my universe, and, to quote Meat Loaf, “2 out of 3 ain’t bad”. We’re still level on points at the top with 7 games to go, all eminently winnable.

On a less postive note, we can’t really say that we’re “joint top”, because we’re actually second to Stoke on goal difference. And if West Brom and Watford win their games in hand, they both overtake us, leaving us in the play-off lottery. And it must also be mentioned that we need a dozen more points to be certain of even a play-off place.

The performance wasn’t great, with a lack of creativity in the mid-field. Nick Carle, deputising for the injured Lee Johnson, did his best, but Little Lee was greatly missed, and I hope his legions of detractors, who have been quieter in recent weeks, have the honesty to agree. And yet again, we proved woefully incapable of getting the ball into the net, despite many very good chances. Our goal came from the penalty spot, and after a bit of disagreement in which Orr and Carle seemed to both want to take the kick, Gary Johnson pointed to Lee Trundle, who coolly slotted it past the keeper for his first goal since October. Could this unblock the skillful Trundle? Might he now start scoring freely? Nobody would be happier than I if that happened, and the stage really is set. Let him start against Cardiff on Saturday, Gary.