Has the Eagles bubble burst?

I scraped a treble from Saturday's bet. It was the lowest paying of the eight available but I will get 40% of my stake back and with five from eight correct, I feel happy enough. If Colchester and Bristol Rovers could have broken the deadlock at home, it would have looked much better and only my Southampton prediction was reversed at Swindon.

I looked long at hard at the Reading v Palace fixture where I fancied the home win but didn't want to think my heart might be ruling my head. Palace had lost three on-the-spin and I thought they might fight back here. I should have followed my heart because they made it four straight defeats with a solid 3-0 hiding. They have two home matches this week against fellow-strugglers Portsmouth and then high-flying Burnley. Fingers-crossed that a poor showing this week could confirm a season of struggle ahead that would at least divert some attention away from our failure to lead a challenge from League One. We must be grateful for small mercies and clutch at every straw offered.