Today’s piece comes from Gareth Barker.

YOU know you’re at the business end of the season when you start cheering other team’s goals like they’ve been scored by your own.

When Christian Benteke curled in a lovely free-kick for Aston Villa, winning them a point in the process, I was punching the air with delight. Perhaps more importantly, it meant Queens Park Rangers dropped vital points. Those points would have made the situation at the bottom of the table both interesting and terrifying in equal measures.

After the euphoria of Sunday, a QPR win would have been a dreadful result for Sunderland. The draw at Villa Park, and the coming fixtures this weekend, mean a home fixture with Crystal Palace presents yet another opportunity for us to put some distance between ourselves and the bottom three. How many times have we said that this season?

You can read the rest here.