FAN'S EYE VIEW: Wembley is days away - why is it so low key?

BY MIKE McKINLEY After a week off for the internationals and the FA Cup games, we should be fighting fit, focused and raring to go. And heading back into action, the fixtures we face should give the players perfect illustration of how out of kilter our

BY MIKE McKINLEY

After a week off for the internationals and the FA Cup games, we should be fighting fit, focussed and raring to go.

And heading back into action, the fixtures we face should give the players perfect illustration of how out of kilter our season is.

Wembley and the defence of the Carling Cup is just over a week away, but compared to last season's buzzing buildup this year seems incredibly low key.

And the reason for that lies in the three prior games. At the start of the season, I'm sure most fans would have been eyeing the Uefa Cup as a trophy we would love to win, and of course with the pedigree of the now departed Senor Ramos it looked a good shout.

Alas, things, as we know, went spectacularly wrong for him, with the result that the Uefa Cup is last on everybody's priorities.

And the importance of Monday night's league game at Hull City is spoken of in the same breath as the cup final.

And the fact is, right now, we would probably (secretly at least) trade the cup for a few wins that would see us safely out of trouble.

However, as we saw last year against Chelsea in the Carling final, and in remaining unbeaten so far this season in league meetings with the "Big Four", we can find another gear usually when the glamour games come.

But on a February night on the banks of the Humber, is there anybody anywhere that actually expects us to perform?

I hope I'm wrong. The right performances and the right results could make this a massively positive week for the club.

But how many times have we said that?