THIS is what Championship football is all about!
We’ve got two top away games coming up – against my old club Sheffield Wednesday and Blackpool – and I know we have the ability to acquit ourselves well.
It’s Hillsborough on Wednesday, and who could forget our last two visits there?
The fans were well and truly singing in the rain when we won 2-0 two seasons ago.
Graham Carey and Anthony Pilkington scored great goals in the first half of a match we dominated.
We were toying with Wednesday by the end, and they will be the first to admit they were poor that night.
It was a different case last season, when we went there just before Christmas for what turned out to be a real cracker.
We went two up before Wednesday seemed to have taken control.
Trailing 4-2, we looked to be heading for defeat, but Jordan Rhodes finished with four goals to his credit as we fought back to draw with an equaliser which came in front of our fans deep into injury time.
The latest game will have to go some to match last season’s, but as ever, I’m sure our supporters will travel in numbers, and they really do have an important part to play.
Wednesday finished last season very strongly under Dave Jones to pip Sheffield United to the second automatic promotion spot, and we all know about the play-offs!
When they came to our place late in the season and won 2-0, they looked very good, with pace and power all over the pitch.
They’ve started well this time, but we’ve given a good account of ourselves as well, and it’s going to be a very interesting night.
Blackpool, of course, have been up in the Premier League recently and after making last season’s Championship play-offs, look capable of mounting another promotion challenge.
I feel a bit sorry for our fans after the game was switched to next Monday for television coverage.
Thinking the game would be on Saturday, they had booked accommodation so they could make a weekend of it.
I’m sure we’ll still take our fair share for what is our first visit to Bloomfield Road for a while, and the game will have special significance for Simon Grayson, who was both a player and manager there.