Having just played and beaten Manchester United you might think that that was the biggest game of our season, but you would be wrong.

The biggest game for the players comes this Saturday when we play host to Bolton.

A look at the Premiership table will tell you just why a win at Maine Road at the weekend against our local rivals is so important to us.

Having lost our last two games, 1-0 at home to Charlton and 3-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday, we are 16th with 17 points while Bolton are 18th and in the bottom three on 13 points.

A win would give us renewed confidence, while a defeat would drag us into a potential relegation fight.

Bolton have some good results of late, having taken points off Chelsea (1-1), Leeds (4-2) and West Brom (1-1) and they will be buoyed by that.

From our point of view when you are in the position we are in, while it is important to win every game, winning or at worst drawing against teams immediately below or above you is vital. Losing is not an issue.

On Saturday we came up against a team that, on the day, were better than us.

In the past Middlesbrough have been known as strugglers but their manager Steve McLaren seems to have instilled a new belief in them that makes them hard to beat, especially at home.

We came up against a team that know the system and play to it well. We weren't at our best but we weren't poor. They are solid, workmanlike in midfield and lively up front - Massimo Maccarone in particular would chase a paper bag if it blew across the pitch!

The match was supposed to have marked the debut of City midfielder Joey Barton but due to a rather strange incident he was left sitting on the bench.

It was the first time he had been included in the squad and with ten minutes to go and the team losing 2-1 and down to ten men our gaffer Kevin Keegan decided to bring him on.

Unfortunately as he started to get ready Joey realised he didn't have his shirt.

As with some other players such as Darren Huckerby, Joey does not put his shirt on until he is about to go on and had placed it at his feet at the start of the match.

During half-time he must have left it in the dugout and at the Riverside Stadium, like a number of other Premiership grounds, the stands are very close to the pitch. It is sometimes possible to slip your hand underneath and someone must have taken it.

Because we have squad numbers these days you cannot just grab a shirt and go on, so Joey had to miss out.

It is unfortunate because this was Joey's chance and there are players who are likely to come back into the squad and that will obviously limit his opportunities.

We are starting to hit a difficult period and it's not the time to give kids debuts unless the situation warrants it or they can perform better than those who are available.

As a result we don't know when he will get back in again, but one thing's for sure, he won't forget the debut that wasn't.