WELL, we're almost there. Another season draws to a close with Sunday's visit of Coventry City. And what a season it's been.

There have been highs and lows, but after performing well at Sunderland and ending April as the Championship's form team things are back on the up.

It's something that appears to have gone un-noticed by the Football League's manager of the month voting panel, who left Steve Cotterill out of their shortlist this week.

Probably the people who hand out these awards have their eyes fixed at the top of the tables and concentrate on the automatic and play-off positions.

This time next year we all hope to be up there ourselves.

Steve has got the nucleus of the squad and with the addition of three, four or five more players we'll look for good things for next year.

Sunday is Claret and You' Day, where supporters are asked to sport an item of claret clothing or carry a claret accessory, such as a balloon.

I watched the Liverpool v Chelsea match on television this week and it was great to see all the supporters waving their red scarves in the Kop.

Similarly, it would be fantastic to turn Turf Moor into a sea of claret this weekend as they cheer on the lads for the last time this season.

For many, it will be the first chance to salute player of the year Wade Elliott.

It was a good choice. He's been a steady player all season and weighed in with one or two spectacular goals that have probably stood out in supporters' minds.

Michael Duff has been another consistent performer and must have run Wade close to the honour.

It's terrific that Chris McCann has won the young player of the year award for the second year running too.

He said he was surprised to pip pal Kyle Lafferty to the prize, but I'm not.

He is progressing and looking to have all the assets to be a fully seasoned professional, and hopefully we'll see even more of him next year.

As well as being able to defend, he can score goals.

He's good at going up for corners and free kicks, and he has a great left foot which means he can hit things from outside the box too.

He can play anywhere, and that's a great asset for him, and the club.

Finally, there's another special game on Bank Holiday Monday - Graham Branch's testimonial.

Going back a year or two, when Stan Ternent was manager, Branchy was an automatic choice on the team-sheet.

The years have caught up with him now but he's been great to have on the bench because he can play in three or four positions.

Monday's game promises to be a good event and I hope supporters come out in numbers for him .