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Graham Westley has brought in Njazi Kuqi on "trial" as he continues to assess his attacking options. Kuqi came on for his debut with about 10 minutes remaining on Saturday as Boro won their first game of the season at home to Stockport. He made some nice touches here and there, but didn't really get much time to impress the Boro boss.

The Finnish league has made it all the way to the 8th round, which makes us here at the NFN Ivory Tower quite ready and willing to single out some teams for harsh criticism. We could also carve out the positives out of some teams' performances, but who wants to read good news anyway?

Friday 7 PM

Tampere United (5th) FC Lahti (12th)

Tampere United had to make a jailbreak on Tuesday because AC/DC invaded their home ground.

We owe you a sincere apology for our erratic previewing of the weekend's Veikkausliiga round. Our dear friend Egan Richardson is writhing in the misery that confronted his dear hometown of Sheffield, and I have spent my time trying to understand the annual Finnish holiday called Vappu (on May 1st and, in its most liquefied form, April 30th every year).

Janne Oivio continues his skewed coverage of Veikkausliiga following the preview package published last week.

It's ridiculously early to do a power ranking, but I don't care. Having just completed NFN's Massive Veikkausliiga Preview I was so delighted with myself that I decided to begin a running feature which will run hopefully every other week.

Veikkausliiga heads north today, with long journeys deep into the countryside for HJK and Tampere United. RoPS, KuPS and VPS all have nice grounds but terrible pitches, and the difficulty of getting results there has been evident in recent seasons, with VPS acting as a bit of a bogey side for TamU and KuPS getting a memorable 3-2 win against HJK late last season to help them to a play-off spot.

The preview of the sxth round should take many forms, the first one being a homage to Pasi Rautiainen. This Monday's match between Honka and TPS in Tapiola turned into something of a media event, with most of the Finnish under-21 squad presented with roses for their achievement in failing to win a single game or point, and scoring a solitary penalty during their three matches in Sweden.

Watching Tampere United struggle to a single goal victory over JJK at Ratina yesterday, it occurred to me just how astonishing it is that anyone watches Finnish football. The first half was enjoyably predictable, as TamU attacked and JJk attempted to string a few passes together. JJK's South Korean striker Nam was brought off injured, and someone curled a shot against the bar for the Jyväskyläns (it could very possibly have been Koskela), and Rafinha got the winner when Sinisalo's headed past his own keeper, but overall it was a pretty run of the mill Veikkausliiga match.

Inter are not the luckiest team in Veikkausliiga, it has to be said. After losing Patrick Bantamoi to a red card in Sunday's 2-0 defeat to HJK at Pallokenttä (HJK's usual Töölö home having it's new grass rested for the Euro 2009 championships in late August), their second goalkeeper David Moncalves was sent off in the 57th minute at Ratina today after bringing down Tampere United's Aleksei Kangaskolkka and preventing a goalscoring opportunity.

We apologise for being unable to write a preview of last night's games, but here's an extended round-up to ease the pain.

MYPA - VPS 0-2

I can't help gloryhunting. VPS took a third consecutive win and I just have to support them. If I didn't, I would be scared by them.

TPS - IFK Mariehamn

TPS basically have the edge in this game, but it all depends on how they play. If they build on last week's win over VPS and produce another confident display, they should be able to win the game, but if they are inefficient and start pushing it, the game will turn out much more difficult, even more so as IFK Mariehamn really know how to play against "better" teams.

OK, maybe I am taking a step too far in comparing this 19-year old to mr. Litmanen. Still, what a performance! Riski, or RR10, as his recently innovated nickname goes, beautifully set up TPS's 2-0 winning goal against VPS and also put the ball past Henri Sillanpää himself. He was composed with the ball, passing precisely and setting up a number of chances for his mates.

Inter took their third consecutive derby win in Veikkausliiga, beating TPS 2-0. The big difference to last year was that both teams were bad this time around. Inter had most of the ball possession, but that was pretty much useless, as they could only create one chance. It was enough though, as Timo Furuholm found the net to score his team's second in the 75th minute.

Haka v HJK

This is Finland's classico, the game between the historical heavyweights with more titles between them than they know what to do with. It's also Haka's first home game, Sedu Koskinen's first chance to bring the magic of a summer of music festivals and family-friendly entertainment to Tehtaan Kenttä.

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

The second round of games, similarly to the first, shrank a bit because newly promoted JJK joined the already too long list of teams who had to cancel their opening fixture. VPS and Haka kicked off the round yesterday, with the latter snapping a 1-0 away win thanks to a goal from Pietari Holopainen.

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13.

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13.

EGAN'S PREDICTION JUHA'S PREDICTION 1. FC Honka 1. HJK 2. HJK 2. FC Honka 3. FC Inter 3. Tampere United 4. Tampere United 4. TPS 5. TPS 5. FC Inter 6. FC Lahti 6. FC Lahti 7. FC Haka 7. FC Haka 8. VPS 8. MyPa 9. IFK Mariehamn 9. VPS 10. MyPa 10. FF Jaro 11. FF Jaro 11. IFK Mariehamn 12. KuPS 12. JJK 13.

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

In: Dymytro Voloshyn, Marcus Olofsson, Kenneth Gustavsson, Tamás Gruborowics, Gustav Långbacka, Kenneth Vickström, Sasha Anttilainen, Arsim Gashi, Jimmy Sundman, Ante Simunac

Out: Daniel Norrmén, Travis Binnion, Jani Lyyski, Andreas Björk, Andreas Friman, Peter Sjölund, André Hansell, Petter Isaksson, David Carlsson, Anders Överström, Tommy Wirtanen, Arash Bayat, August Bergman, Akombo Ukeyima, Moses Reid

Coach: Pekka Lyyski

Claimed playing budget: €450,000

Egan says:A big re-building job has been undertaken at the Wiklof Holding Arena, with retirements decimating IFK's squad.

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [.

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [.

Finland are suffering from the usual injury worries, with Teemu Tainio and Mika Väyrynen out, but Jari Litmanen's fitness is a welcome boost for Stuart Baxter. The FC Lahti striker, who scored the first ever goal at the Millenium stadium in 2000, has recovered from a clash of heads that saw him withdraw midway through [.

The biggest disappointment this year has been HJK Helsinki. They started with high hopes, big signings, and a fluent attacking style, but things have fallen apart for them since the 3-2 win over Inter that seemed to renew their title hopes back in August. Their strategy - big money signings combined with the cream of [.

TamU beat Honka 4-3 in an entertaining game that saw TamU stir up the title race once again. A few weeks ago they got a home win against Inter and now the other title candidate was treated to a defeat at their hands. FC Lahti - IFK Mariehamn A win would guarantee IFK Mariehamn a place in [...]

FC Inter - Honka 0-0 HJK - TPS 1-0 FC Lahti - Haka 1-0 KuPS - MyPa 1-4 VPS - Jaro 2-1 TamU - IFK Mariehamn 1-0 Highlights here, just click the "Veikkausliiga" link below the video. Inter and Honka couldn't spell out a difference between themselves in the long-awaited game between the two top teams in Turku.