All tight on the night

Incredibly, ANOTHER 0-0 draw. Marseille became the first team this season to deny us a victory in the home leg of a UEFA Cup match, but there were still reasons to be cheerful.

The losses of Bellamy, Dyer, Jenas and Bowyer after Sunday's game with Villa left our bench looking less than formidable last night, and the enforced changes could have hit us hard. Thankfully Ambrose returned from injury and gave it his all on the right side of midfield, while Viana was handed a rare start in his favoured position in the centre, and though he still wasn't at his best, he produced a few neat passes and got stuck in more than of late. It was always going to be a tight and close-fought match, and in the absence of Dyer and Bellamy we were looking to Robert to unlock the Marseille defence, but our mercurial winger had a stinker. Not only was his set-piece delivery patchy, but his attacking contribution was minimal and it was his sloppiness in the second half that presented the ball to an opponent who crossed in towards Didier Drogba - mercifully his volley struck the post and span behind for a goal kick. Though we kept a clean sheet, Woodgate again immaculate, lone striker Drogba was a real powerhouse and caused us problems all night, leading to some desperate defending.

At the other end we probably carved out the better chances. Ameobi should have done better in the first half with a header from a Robert free kick, and then shot straight at Barthez from point blank range. In the second half Barthez couldn't hold Shearer's stinging free kick but Speed somehow put the rebound wide when it looked easier to score, and late on substitute Bridges, on for Ameobi, scampered onto a sliced clearance but under pressure from a defender put his shot wide. In truth, though we edged it and put in a lot of effort, I don't think we did quite enough to merit a win.

The result's a tough one to assess. On the one hand, we denied Marseille an all-important away goal, and so we know that if we can ourselves score in France life will be very difficult for them. Other than a win, 0-0 is the next best thing. On the other hand, though, I still feel our best chance of winning games is at home, and I'm not as confident as some that we can get the result we need away from St James's Park - in their last home match in the UEFA Cup, Marseille beat Inter Milan 1-0, and it could have been four or five. It's safe to say that things are very much in the balance.

The games continue to come thick and fast - we play host to Chelsea on Sunday in our sixth televised match in a row. Let's just hope they're still in disarray and that our lads' memory of November's 5-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge has been erased...