After the Boxing Day result at Norwich, it was back to Withdean for a vital fixture against our opening day opponents Burnley.

They came with something of a score to settle after the August fixture and we were looking to get our first double of the campaign.

The opening signs were good as we started brightly and probably should have taken the lead but it was our visitors who opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play.

We again got on top in the second half before they again struck at the second attempt after Michel had made another good save.

We continued to be the better side but it wasn't until a late flurry did we get our reward as the Ginger Notcher (Steve Sidwell) struck to earn us a point.

And overall it was a deserved point as, throughout the game, as in every game, we tried to win by being positive in what we did. Sometimes things don't go to plan and you have to dig results out but that's what this side can do. And we showed yet again that this squad has plenty of character and bags of heart.

It was evident throughout the game that many sections of the crowd were getting frustrated and we understand these frustrations, as a stray pass or small errors hurt us as much, if not more, than you. But these are not intended. They are part and parcel of football and when things are not going to plan, that is when we need you to be behind us the most.

I always praise our support as it's second to none, especially away from home. So I now call on you to really get behind us as we enter a massive period in our season.

You'll never know how valuable your support is and I can assure you it's a great feeling when you're up against it to see the Seagulls' supporters singing and urging you on. After all, we're not a bad bunch, are we?

The New Year's Day fixture was postponed for the second year running, though I imagine a few fans were relieved after seeing the rain as well as nursing the after effects of the night before. We weren't told until 10 o'clock New Year's Day so it was Auld Lang Syne with Jonathan Ross and Dale Winton for most of the squad.

Because of the weather, training has been difficult as certain areas of Falmer are under water. But Thursday saw us have a thoroughly enjoyable session in terrible conditions with a ten-a-side game on a scaled-down pitch. It was definitely a game for the keepers to forget as they were beaten ten times between them with the Blues running out 6-4 victors.

Dodge tried his best to get the Greens a victory. However, he wasn't actually on the green team. He just had a stinker. First, he pulled down the Welsh wing wonder for a clear penalty, then he scored an own goal to level things up.

But after the combo of some good Oatway crossing and bad refereeing for not giving me or Bozzy any protection, the Blues came out winners, with an unofficial yellow jersey going to Wing Nut (Wilkinson) as no-one can remember him touching the ball.

The only negative thing to come out of training was that I was unable to salvage any kit from the day due to the conditions so it means a trip to the launderette.

The other day I spent an interesting 15 minutes in the life of John "The Office" Piercy and it certainly opened my eyes. Firstly, I told him I was buying a laptop and he advised me to get insurance as he has had four of them and they always break. He went on that any time he wanted an upgrade, he waited for it to bust and then he got a new one and if for some reason it didn't break he would just leave it on for three weeks until it overheated, ensuring certain malfunction and then he'd get his brand spanker.

He then told me, 'Thierry Henry had killed him' by declaring in the Renault advert that a certain stripey shirt in the advert had no va va voom and that he had just bought that same shirt but was now unable to wear it. Well the word cuckoo springs to mind, John, and remember you live in Eastbourne where the Bay City Rollers still have va va voom.

Saturday January 4 2003