The scenery around Frickley Athletic’s ground in South Emsall was as dull and depressing as the game itself which wasn’t helped by a referee who lives a little too close to the town for comfort.

The tea was rubbish, but at least our non-league blogger and staunch Matlock Town supporter was happy with the result in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the premiership season and almost definitely the World Cup after his latest hamstring breakdown. This prompts us to ask, who are the most fragile players in football?

The FA Cup sixth round dominates the weekend’s proceedings and I can see the two favourites bouncing back from their recent defeats.

It can’t have been easy for Wayne Bridge, turning down the once in a lifetime opportunity to feature for England at the 2010 World Cup. That aside, it’s about time professional footballers started to live up to the ‘professional’ part of their job title and realise that playing for their country should be a duty and an honour, not something to be discarded when times are tough.

With every red-top tabloid dragging the image of footballers through the mud, and footballers doing their best to provide them with material, in the interest of balance we delve into the world of the ‘brainy footballer’ (and we are not including Graeme Le Saux, on the basis that he reads the Guardian.)

On a ploughed field, our non-league blogger watched his team scrap for a result against high-flying Retford, and encountered a dodgy ref, a thuggish centre back and a stern telling off from a steward whose uniformed status had clearly affected his rationality.

The bad tempered game between Derby County and Swansea City at the weekend could see the Rams brought before the FA again after Gorka Pintado’s tackle on Robbie Savage sparked an 18-man brawl.

Chesterfield ended Bury’s run of six successive victories last weekend, but I expect them to bounce back against Shrewsbury tonight.

The Premier league are drawing up plans to create a play-off for the fourth champions league slot given to an English side. Predictably the top four Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who have dominated the Champions League places (and cash) for years are up in arms about it, with Rafa Benitez the most dismissive of all.