Tomorrow's another Deva

United play Chester tomorrow more in hope than with confidence, and it is no exaggeration to suggest that it is the league side who could be considered underdogs. Chester are unbeaten in sixteen games since September whilst United, in stark contrast, are not. A few changes are anticipated from the side that was humiliated at Brentford in midweek, with Wayne Hatswell cup-tied and Keith Andrews refused permission to play by Wolves. Hatswell will most probably be replaced by Andy Linighan, but it will be interesting to see who will come in for Andrews. It could be Lee Jarman, who Dave Kemp seems to think of as a midfielder (despite all the evidence to the contrary), or Peter Fear if he has recovered from injury. It is sadly unlikely to be Dean Whitehead, who doesn't seem to have impressed the new management team yet, although if Fear is also absent Whitehead's aggression and ball-winning skills could come in handy although both are included in the squad.

Up front Phil Gray may well be partnered by Steve Anthrobus, meaning that United will once again be looking to the midfield to provide the firepower, especially as Derek Lilley isn't fit yet whilst Manny Omoyinmi obviously failed to impress on Tuesday, being substituted after half an hour, along with the hapless Sam Ricketts. John Robertson is injured so Ross Weatherstone may play. We also expect Richard Knight to return to the side despite somewhat explicit criticism of him by Joe Kinnear at the open meeting on Wednesday.

Ross is not a racist (he can't even drive)

Ross Weatherstone has issued a statement trying to explain why he failed to appeal his conviction for racially aggravated assault, despite two of his co-defendants having their convictions quashed on appeal recently. Weatherstone claims that there were “certain important pieces of evidence” which supported his 'Not Guilty' plea but which had been ignored when the original verdict was reached, although these are not specified. He also says that he was advised by United not to appeal and to let the matter die. This is quite clearly very poor advice as he now carries a “guilty” tag in the eyes of the law and remains a convicted racist.

If Weatherstone truly finds racism as abhorrent as his statement suggests then surely it was his duty to either appeal, if not guilty, or to apologise, if guilty? He has done neither and with this statement, for which he has displayed considerable courage to release, he has sadly missed a golden opportunity to truly mend some past wrongs. Weatherstone may well not have committed the crime for which he was punished, but his failure to appeal means that we will never know for sure.