A point at Stoke is progress. Defensively we were superb. Stoke is a hard place to go. It was very very windy and we couldn´t play the ball on the ground.

I'm sure I have missed one or two out, but they were generally the things said about the result yesterday in favour of Aston Villa and you can't disagree with any of them really. Or can you?

Just a quick post to tell you the score as I was expected for dinner ten minutes ago and I have missed two calls, both probably from the wife.

Basically, a point is a point. We needed three but we were basically not good enough. If we were good enough, we would have won today. We didn´t, so we are not.

Well, based on the competition yesterday, that you can still enter, I think most think this is a win but there is a fair number of you saying it could be a draw and while it is fair to say a point at Stoke would generally be a decent result, you could also say, that at the business end of the season, we really do need three.

Business is business and we are at that part of the season and only three points will see us move up a place in the league today. If we do win and move up the league today it would also be seen as a very big step and will do wonders for the confidence of supporters and no doubt the squad, ahead of a very busy two weeks.

As I alluded to earlier, March is a tough month. Five games in two weeks would be a struggle for any club, even those with a manager that liked to rotate, as continuity of first team usually plays a role to a successful little run.

Martin O'Neill might or might not rotate his players but one thing Martin O'Neill isn't, is predictable and that is the point of this post; predictions.

This isn't meant to wind up the red half of Liverpool, but it needs to be said, just so there is a reference point to it in the future. Martin O'Neill will not leave Aston Villa to manage Liverpool, simply because it isn't the step up a manager like Martin O'Neill would need to take, at this stage in his career.

Martin O'Neill is 58 years old and while he doesn't need to work, is probably as addicted to football as the rest of us and wants to achieve things with a club, that he can truly call his own. At Aston Villa he isn't living in a shadow but if he went to Liverpool, rightly or wrongly, he would be and that shadow at Liverpool would never be his.

You've all heard of The Clowns - they are a football team that play at The Circus down the road. They have a new Ringmaster who has instilled this belief that anything is possible. It isn't really new manager syndrome, but it is, sort of.

The thing with The Clowns is, not even Sinbad the Sailor, borrowing three wishes from Aladdin, could turn that poor excuse for a travelling Circus into anything worthwhile or valuable. They are the typical yo-yo club and this is a great season for them, but we all know it is temporary.

No time for faffing about today, straight to the news and we have another nice bit to begin with. The Aston Villa Academy team made the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup last night after beating Fulham on penalties. That means, for all you non smart people who struggle to add up, that we have two FA Cup semi-finals this season - the future must be really positive with these kids coming through.

We have won the FA Youth Cup before and most will be aware of the 2002 win against Everton and a certain Wayne Rooney, but we also beat Liverpool 5-2 in 1972 and Manchester City 3-2 in 1980.

When I didn't see Gabby anywhere on the team sheet on Sunday, I was firstly disappointed, then surprised. By the end of the day I wasn't that concerned by it and had decided that whatever the relationship between John Carew and the manager or whatever the reason why Carew seems to play second fiddle to Heskey and Gabby, there is going to be a few surprised people if Carew doesn't start next time out, even if Gabby is fit as a fiddle.

Before, I get started though, I just want to make it clear where I stand on the three strikers, just so I don't have to answer again and hopefully so you can see where I am coming from, because my view might surprise you, especially as you'll learn very soon I am a fan of Gabby and you'll think I'm contradicting myself.

There are so many things to mention about yesterday and about what is coming up that I don't know where to begin. I think I'll start with the rumour as it's always a nice thing to start the week with.

The rumour is we are showing an interest in Cardiff City full back Adam Matthews. Matthews is 18 years old and considered a real talent and has already represented Wales at U17, U19 and U21 level. It is fair to assume O'Neill would be looking but that doesn't mean it will happen or that he even is. Still, we will find out in the summer.

I said at half time on Twitter that we needed a second half performance that you will be able to tell your grandchildren about and guess what, we got it.

It wasn´t that the first half was bad. Sure, we were two down, but the game was very entertaining and very end to end. Reading actually produced a great counter attacking goal for their second, that even Martin O´Neill would be proud of, but the game was very open and they just took their chances.

The FA Cup is a beautiful thing. Anyone can do well in it and all teams get excited about it. Look at Pompey; bottom of the table but they beat Birmingham City 2-0 yesterday; beautiful. The Clowns get a reality check and it makes me smile. Happy Sunday.

But, moving quickly along, because I want to touch on the last filed accounts submitted by Aston Villa and before I say my little bit, I have to tell you that I am not an accountant, which is why we've sent them to one and we'll get you some feedback next week. But I did just want to highlight the management fees of £7.6mn - seems like a lot of money.

The doom merchants have been out recently because we lost a game. It was to the English Champions and Champions League runners-up. But we still lost so it's the end of the world as we know it. Forget earthquakes destroying cities and moving the earth's axis, this was bigger in so many more ways.

Come on, I'm as annoyed as the rest of us at losing a Cup Final but it was against one of the best teams in the world.