THERE are so many pluses to being a young footballer, I wouldn't swap it for the world.
But the events of the last fortnight or so have also brought home to me just how dangerous a world it can sometimes be as well.
Chelsea defender John Terry is the latest player to find himself in the dock after an alleged incident in a London nightclub.
And I have to say I have a certain amount of sympathy for him for the way he's been treated by the media over the last seven days.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought we worked on the theory that you're innocent until proven guilty in this country yet John has been slaughtered by the tabloids before the full facts as to what happened on that night have actually been established.
John and I are friends through our England Under 21 links and I've spoken to him briefly this week although, for various reasons, he didn't go into too much detail about the events of the night in question.
From where I'm sitting, though, some of the Press have been far too quick to act like his judge and jury before anyone's had chance to hear the full story.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning the fact he broke a club curfew by being out less than 48 hours before a game.
But we don't know if they were actually drinking or not and whether the whole thing has been blown out of all proportion.
After the Woodgate and Bowyer case, I think young footballers are now being targeted by certain sections of the media far more closely than ever before.
As a player, of course we have a duty to act responsibly and you've got to be clever because there's clearly a time and a place to let your hair down and enjoy yourself without it affecting your performances on the pitch.
However, I seem to be finding out quickly that certain people do exist in this game who love to build you up when things are going well then, the moment they start going wrong, they're the first to knock you down.
I just try not to read anything in the papers -- apart from the local Press of course -- otherwise you'd be up one minute and then down the next.
Instead, what I try to do is listen to the people who are important to me, like my grandad, my family, the gaffer, the coaching staff at Rovers, and David Platt, my England Under 21 boss.
They are the people who matter to me and it's them I want to impress.
As for events on the pitch, I don't think I need to say how big tomorrow's game is for us against Charlton.
If we were to get three points we could then go into the following two league games against Manchester United and Arsenal with renewed confidence.
None of the lads have lost their belief, despite our recent poor run, so we just need the fans to get right behind us tomorrow and cheer us on to three points.
Andy Cole's arrival has given everyone a lift at the club. Over the last month or so we have been missing chances as a team and, hopefully, Andy will now help us to start putting some of those away.
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