Steven Gerrard's equaliser against Reading may have prevented the Championship club from recording a famous FA Cup victory over Liverpool, but the trip to Liverpool's famous Anfield stadium will be a boost to the Championship club's coffers.
The Royals had taken the lead through Simon Church, but were pegged back by Gerrard's equaliser.

As far as articles on the top clubs in the world this week, there's not that much to report. The only matches that had any affect on the rankings over the past few weeks came out of France, which shut down later than most, Spain, which started back earlier than most, and England and Scotland, which neither shut down nor started back.

Bath City drew against Bishop's Stortford at home in front of 558 people yesterday. That was not how things were supposed to go.
No. Things were supposed to go very differently. City were supposed to crush Bishop's Stortford as they did at the away fixture 5-1. This was supposed to happen in front of a bumper crowd made up of people drawn back after the great football they saw at the last two Saturday home matches (1,404 against Newport County and 3,325 against Forest Green Rovers).

Wolverhampton Wanderers play host to Liverpool in the Premier League this week, with both sides needing points for very different reasons.
Only goal difference separates Wolves from the relegation zone, as they have failed to pick up a win in any of their last five games in all competitions.

After Saturday's FA Cup exploits – when Chelsea put in a professional performance to see off Preston North End – Chelsea are now nearing a return to the nitty-gritty of Premier League action. Wednesday's visitors are Alex McLeish's rapidly improving Birmingham.
It won't be an easy game – just a month ago Birmingham ground out a nil-nil draw with an uninspired Chelsea who, despite Lampard and Anelka missing good chances, never really looked like snatching all three points.

SUNDERLAND star Andy Reid could miss most of January with the hamstring strain he picked up in the Boxing Day game against Everton.The Republic of Ireland international limped off at the end of the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light and tests have shown that the muscle strain needs to be given weeks to recover.

These aren't particularly happy times just to the north of London. The battle for the control of Watford still threatens to rip the club in half, while Luton Town's start to life in the Blue Square Premier hasn't exactly gone according to plan either. Stevenage Borough, however, are on the rise. There was a time that Borough were very much arrivistes in the non-league game.

So here we go again - back to good old fashioned blogging. It's certainly a different pace from regular country journalism, though FP has missed it.
Now where were we? Oh yes that's right - Perth Glory.
Ever since FP left for his south-bound junket, the Glory seem to have slipped off the pace.

Sorry it's a bit late, but it's a story that is definately worth mentioning. New Year's Day saw Stevenage go top of the Blue Square Premier after they beat Cambridge United 4-1 at Broadhall Way. Boro took the place of Oxford United who didn't play because their game against Rushden was postponed due to the recent poor weather.

Snow, finally. We've seen it on TV, we've been warned about it, and here it is. In Islington, up in North London, the skies are that bleak grey exclusive to January and February, and the snow flakes (quite large now) are emerging in chaotic armies, from nothingness, to nothingness.

There's something strange about this time of year.

Saturday's FA Trophy clash with Vauxhall Motors is likely to be postponed due to the poor weather conditions over the last few days. Stevenage announced that there would be a pitch inspection at 1pm on Friday to determine whether the Broadhall Way pitch had a chance of recovering in time for Saturday, but I've been told it's almost certain to be called off because of the snow and ice.

Wellington 3 v Brisbane 1 - like Wellington had one or two players extra - much better at defending than Brisbane was at attacking.
CCM 1 V North Queensland 1 - it was very hot in Gosford and this suited the far north.
Gold Coast 1 v Adelaide 1 - pity Gold Coast didn't play like this against the Roar.

Bath City drew against Bishop's Stortford at home in front of 558 people yesterday. That was not how things were supposed to go.
No. Things were supposed to go very differently. City were supposed to crush Bishop's Stortford as they did at the away fixture 5-1. This was supposed to happen in front of a bumper crowd made up of people drawn back after the great football they saw at the last two Saturday home matches (1,404 against Newport County and 3,325 against Forest Green Rovers).

After Saturday's FA Cup exploits – when Chelsea put in a professional performance to see off Preston North End – Chelsea are now nearing a return to the nitty-gritty of Premier League action. Wednesday's visitors are Alex McLeish's rapidly improving Birmingham.
It won't be an easy game – just a month ago Birmingham ground out a nil-nil draw with an uninspired Chelsea who, despite Lampard and Anelka missing good chances, never really looked like snatching all three points.

Liverpool suffered a severe blow to their hopes of securing Champions League football as they were frustrated by Mick McCarthy's side in a Barclays Premier League clash at Molineux.
The Reds actually moved above Manchester City on goal difference into fifth spot with a share of the spoils but have played two games more.

Another weekend, another milestone – Pepe Reina's enduring consistency will be recognised this afternoon when he makes his 100th consecutive Premier League start for Liverpool.
It is, of course, a feat achieved before in the club's illustrious history – 15 others have done it since 1892, the most recent being David James – but, in an age when reliable keepers are needed like never before, it demonstrates the level at which Reina has been operating.

Here are some stats which may surprise you: Aston Villa have conceded the fewest goals of any team in the Premiership this season. They've scored the same number of goals as West Ham: their League position is based on a very tight defence and the three goals we scored against them on the day after Boxing Day was exceptional.