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It wasn’t to be though and four goals in the last twenty minutes including a Carl Asaba hat-trick saw them lose 4-2. The last two were both penalties in the last four minutes. The home fans were not too happy with referee Prosser and only police kept the referee away from them at the end.
So they remain rooted to the bottom and with Sheffield Wednesday grabbing a late winner from Gerald Sibon against Bradford they are now eight points adrift of third bottom and that’s Franchise.
It is wonderful to see the pariahs finally reach the bottom three and it must have been a shock to them to play in front of such a massive home crowd yesterday of 6,538. Mind you the visitors were Crystal Palace who average more than 16,000 on the same ground for home games. That represents a massive protest against franchising from the Palace fans.
Up at the top end of the league Norwich were the only team in the top three to win, 3-1 against Millwall, with Portsmouth dropping two home points in a 1-1 draw against Coventry at Fratton Park and the Clarets winning at Leicester.
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A former Burnley goalkeeper made a debut yesterday but not one he will want to remember. Gavin Ward came on as a substitute for Walsall after James Walker was sent off for handling the ball outside his box. Walsall were 2-0 up against Preston but had to settle for a 3-3 draw with the equaliser coming two minutes from time.
Preston boss Craig Brown seems to think that English football is all about not losing and seems unaware that you need to win a few, this was their eighth draw in thirteen league games.
Carl Asaba wasn’t the only player to hit three yesterday, Nicky Forster scored all Reading’s goals in their 3-1 win at home to Ipswich. Asaba and Forster are only the 4th and 5th players to score three or more in a game this season.
In today's game Derby and Forest played out a 0-0 draw at Pride Park although David Johnson had a goal disallowed for offside when was in fact onside. The point helped Derby back into the top half of the league.
Norwich have now joined Portsmouth in the top two with Leicester in the play off positions along with Forest, Sheffield United and Watford. The Clarets are eighth just three points away from the top six. It’s getting closer and closer.
This week sees us play our game in hand at Ipswich before playing host to league leaders Portsmouth. The fixtures are (3:00 p.m. unless otherwise shown)
Tuesday 22nd October
Ipswich Town v Burnley (7:45 p.m.)
Wednesday 23rd October
Coventry City v Norwich City (7:45 p.m.)
Sheffield United v Stoke City (7:45 p.m.)
Saturday 26th October
Bradford City v Norwich City
Burnley v Portsmouth
Coventry City v Walsall
Crystal Palace v Brighton and Hove Albion
Ipswich Town v Gillingham
Millwall v Derby County
Nottingham Forest v Leicester City
Preston North End v Reading
Rotherham United v Stoke City
Sheffield United v Franchise
Watford v Sheffield Wednesday
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Grimsby Town
Leading Goalscorers (League only)
13: David Johnson (Nottm. Forest)
8: Darren Byfield (Rotherham)
8: Alan Lee (Rotherham)
8: Paul McVeigh (Norwich)
6: Carl Asaba (Sheffield United)
6: Nathan Blake (Wolves)
6: Malcolm Christie (Derby)
6: Jamie Cureton (Reading)
6: Neil Shipperley (Franchise)
5: Jay Bothroyd (Coventry)
5: Pablo Counago (Ipswich)
5: Richard Cresswell (Preston)
5: Brian Deane (Leicester)
5: Paul Dickov (Leicester)
5: David Nielson (Norwich)
5: Vincent Pericard (Portsmouth)
5: Svetoslav Todorov (Portsmouth)
5: Michael Tonge (Sheffield United)
4: Wayne Allison (Sheffield United)
4: Darren Ambrose (Ipswich)
4: Andy Cooke (Stoke)
4: Nicky Forster (Reading)
4: Ricardo Fuller (Preston)
4: David Healy (Preston)
4: Andy Hughes (Reading)
4: Guy Ipoua (Gillingham)
4: Steve Kabba (Grimsby including 1 for Crystal Palace)
4: Shefki Kuqi (Sheffield Wednesday)
4: Jorge Leitao (Walsall)
4: Paul Merson (Portsmouth)
4: Phil Mulryne (Norwich)
4: Michael Proctor (Bradford)
4: Paul Shaw (Gillingham)