Hot and not-so-hot pursuit

Another game, another dodgy penalty awarded to the Baggies - once again for a foul on Giles Barnes and once again tucked away by Graham Dorrans. The only surprise, I guess, is that the spot-kick wasn't gifted to them by Jonny Moss. Ishmael Miller added a second a minute from time to help them post an impressive 2-0 win at fourth-placed Swansea and move menacingly to within a point of us.

Better - and ultimately more significant - news from Oakwell, though, where Barnsley's Daniel Bogdanovic scored twice against Forest, who obviously don't like Maltesers. Dexter Blackstock replied, but the visitors slumped to their sixth consecutive away defeat, ensuring the gap between ourselves and third still stands at nine points but we now have two games in hand over both Forest and West Brom.

With the Baggies breathing down our necks, a win over Scunthorpe has become even more imperative. It's certainly feasible, though in Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper the Iron have a classic double act strikeforce and we shouldn't forget that following October's dismal defeat at Glanford Park they're chasing an unlikely double. We might now have added motivation to push for the win, but then so have they, given that four of the six sides closest to them at the foot of the table picked up at least a point in tonight's fixtures.