It could get messy, Sunderland tomorrow and ten out of twelve

Just because I want to find the positives from not playing at the weekend, the extra time off should be good for us. That Sunderland played at the weekend should also be a good thing too. That QPR has to be put back in, could be problematic.

Problematic only because I'm still convinced this is going down to the wire. But today is about tomorrow and Sunderland still have a chance of staying up and they are going to be fighting for points. But at home, they've not had the best run of late and they are bottom of the table, so it's fair to assume most Aston Villa fans will see this as a game we should win.

And it's a game we have to win. Not winning could see the gap between second and third increase to seven points and that would be a big gap. And even though sitting second or third right now doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me as long as we are within touching distance. Seven points is touching distance today, but in four or five games, it's going to get tight.

And if you're wondering why it doesn't bother me, it's because there is more pressure on the team in second. Sure, I'd like to be second with a seven point gap to third, but I'd much rather be first with a six point gap to second. Context is important, it's not that I'd prefer second.

Twelve to go

And that is why the next twelve games are important but from a context point of view. We can lose the next three, if the teams above us and below us are losing three too. But one thing I'd like to predict now is that we're not going to win the next twelve. But I believe we have the opportunity to win ten of them.

But an opportunity is just something you know exists, they are sometimes not taken and sometimes missed. We can actually win all twelve but anyone that predicts that can happen would be considered a little mad. And if I did, for as much stick as I get for some things, I'd actually get stick for that too.

But if we won ten of the next twelve, I think we'd be going up without having to deal with the play-offs. But will it happen?

Back tomorrow

So with that said, I'm leaving for today. We need to win tomorrow because of where Sunderland are and how important it is for us, even though I've written above I think we could lose two of the remaining twelve. Tomorrow is important for different reasons.