Puntastic look at the rest of the season, forget about Manchester United and Liverpool

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Liverpool is an important game this weekend and opinion is going to be divided on how best to approach it, so I'm going to skip it for this week as I did touch on it earlier.

What could I possibly write that we don't already know about Liverpool and what could I write about how the three points are vital to us that looking at the league table doesn't tell us?

Instead, rather than look at this game, I'm going to look to the end of the season. Including Liverpool, we have nine games left which adds up to a potential twenty-seven points and there is a point for us in every game if we want it.

I'm not saying we are going to get a point, but on our day we can get a point at Anfield, we did last season and on our day, we can get a point at Old Trafford, we did in 2002. But it's not about those two games, it's about the other seven. They're the important ones.

I'm also not going to look at who Arsenal have matches against, as that doesn't matter, it's how we finish that counts and while the general feeling isn't as positive as it has been this season, we have every reason to be optimistic.

First, we've got Martin O'Neill and you don't get your name thrown about in Soho Square if you're not capable. You also don't get many Manchester United fans happy with the idea of him taking over from Sir Alex, if he ever retires, unless you are more than capable. But the most important thing we need to remember about O'Neill is, he's a fighter and that he'll be doing everything to dig his team out of this slump they've found themselves in and I fancy he'll succeed.

That's the second thing; it's a slump, not the end of our season and if we just look back to his first season, that slump came right in the middle of the season, for quite a few games, but we got out of it. In his second season, it didn't last as long and I don't expect it will last as long this time round.

Yes, I predicted at the start of the season we'd finish sixth, but I think I also changed that to fifth in about December, but fourth isn't out of our grasp - we're on the same points as Arsenal and if ever there was a time to get one over them, it's now.

After these two massive games we've got Everton (H), West Ham (H), Bolton (A), Hull (H), Fulham (A), Middlesbrough (A) and Newcastle (H). Think about those seven games for a minute and pick a number; how many points do you think we'll get?

I think it's too difficult to predict myself, but had you asked me in December, the only match that would have scared me would have been Everton and maybe Fulham. As of today, it's too frightening a thought to think of what could happen if we don't dig ourselves out of this slump, but then I remember; Martin O'Neill.

This won't go on for much longer. We might get something out of one of the two matches, maybe even both, coming up and imagine if we did. Belief would be restored and we could go into the Everton game full of confidence. Imagine then, how it would feel if we beat Everton at home - we'd all be looking to third place again.

Third is stretching it but all the teams above us have quite a few more games than us coming up and that will take it's toll more at this end of the season than if it was at the beginning and a game of football is only 90 minutes - anything can happen.

But why have I posted this? Well, it started as a match preview, then I changed my mind as you'd basically be reading what you already knew. It then turned into what you've just read, but now I've decided to add a poll to the right, which I think is quite a topical one at the moment and while I fancy I know how it will end up, it's going to be interesting to see by what margin.

But finally and to top off the title of this post; at the end of the day, the season isn't over and we've still got it all to play for.