Bah! Humbug! Last week saw two very poor home performances which left me feeling distinctly Scrooge-like approaching the festive period.

We got away with it against City, but didn't against Boro.

Hopefully Saturday was just a bad day at the office with more or less everyone having a collective off day.

The thing that's threatening to put a dampener on my yuletide celebrations is that one or two worrying trends seem to be emerging.

Sherlock Holmes' deductive powers are hardly required to identify our major failing: one goal in the last 180 minutes of league action.

Three out of four on-target efforts against Boro from central defender Martin Taylor.

The complete lack of punch through the middle up front - glaringly obvious since day one - still present.

The annoying thing for me is that our 'striker crisis' is largely of our own making. None of our strikers have set the goal-scoring charts alight at any stage of the season.

With that in mind I was puzzled when we reduced our striking options by selling Nathan Blake without a ready-made replacement lined up.

A month or two down the line, with us still facing the problem, I found the decision to sell Marcus Bent inexplicable.

Therefore assuming Claudia Schiffer is unavailable (again) all I've been dreaming about for Christmas this year is a big fat, ugly, no frills target man capable of finding the net and taking the weight off Matt Jansen.

Joking aside this has to be an absolute must sooner rather than later if we're to have the season we're capable of.

With the thick end of a million pounds per place per season on offer, the right player would surely prove exceptional value.

Another irritant: our 'Jekyll and Hyde' tendencies. Was it the same team playing the high profile clubs Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea as the one playing the so called 'lesser' sides Everton, Leicester, Southampton and Middlesborough?

Why can't we perform to the same high standards in the lower profile games?

The final thing preventing me feeling too festive just yet, is that we seemed to be playing much better earlier in the season. Strangely as the new kids on the block, we seemed to be playing with far more confidence and fluency. Early defeats at Derby, Sunderland and Villa came as a result of missed chances and wasted possession rather than being outplayed.

While the recent more patient approach has been moderately successful, I feel we're more effective given a bit more licence to get up and at the opposition as seen second half against United, Liverpool and eventually Arsenal.

Grumbling apart things still ain't half bad. The sky's still the limit if we can get quickly back in the groove, both in league and cup.

Unbelievably, after a fourth successive home Worthington Cup draw, it's possible only a weakened Arsenal side will stand between us and the semis.

You really do start to wonder if our name is on the cup this year.

I worry that even now the club still sees the competition as a minor irritant. Only 270 minutes away from a guaranteed UEFA Cup place I desperately hope we finally play a full strength side.

Lose that game, we're out. Lose a league game, and at least there's another 20-odd games to put it right.

And I really fancy a day out in Cardiff next March.