WHAT a fantastic result it was for the lads to go to Sunderland and win 4-1.

The players have been different class in the last two away games and to score seven goals is a fantastic effort.

All the lads deserve credit because they are all performing fantastically well, but I think two people in particular deserve plenty of praise.

Gavin McCann has been outstanding in midfield and is an unsung hero. He works his socks off and is an important player in the system we are playing.

It is also about time the manager Gary Megson got some praise. We are just three points off the top six now and we are playing some quality football.

Gary got plenty of stick when we were losing and it is only right that he gets the praise now. He deserves to be manager of the month for what the team have achieved during November.

There were a couple of callers to Radio Five Live on Saturday night who were still being critical of Gary and accused him of being negative. How many negative teams score seven goals in two games up at Middlesbrough and Sunderland?

I ended up ringing the show, under the name of Tony from Halifax, to put this point across. People need to realise that the lads are really responding to Gary and working hard for him and it’s showing in the results.

On the whole, however, the supporters were excellent on Saturday. We took 19 coaches and 1,200 supporters to the North-east when the credit crunch is on and at a time when Christmas shopping becomes important.

I know the everyone at the club appreciates the support and the noise they generate is fantastic. It really does help the lads on the field and the chairman is going to put on free travel to the Aston Villa game a week on Saturday.

Chelsea have sold out their allocation of tickets on Saturday, so that will make for a fantastic atmosphere and the place will be buzzing. If we beat them, we could find ourselves in the top four!

It might be a good time to play Chelsea. They have lost a couple recently, so they will have to try and force a victory. Nicolas Anelka will be back at the Reebok and, although he will get a warm reception because he was a fans favourite, we want him to leave the ground without a goal or any points.

Congratulations to our youth team who beat Doncaster 2-0 in the FA Youth Cup on Friday. I know Peter Farrell works really hard with the lads, and let’s hope a few of them can come through and join people like Kevin Nolan and Joey O’Brien in the first team.

Holly Whitehead, from Buxton, has been seriously ill in hospital recently and it is going to take time for her to get better, but we want her to know that everyone at the club is thinking of her and can’t wait to see her at a game soon. I speak to her on the phone every night and she is a lovely girl.

I also got a letter from Kelly Morris from Walkden recently. She told me that, on December 21, her father will celebrate 30 years of not missing a home match. Her father sits with her brother in the North Stand. It is a remarkable achievement not to have missed a game in all that time. Kelly told me he even missed his brother’s wedding once!

I’d like Kelly to ring me at the club so I can talk about it a bit more with her.