Grand day out leaves survival odds on

AS I WAS driving down Fulham Palace Road a couple of hours before our game at Craven Cottage on Saturday, the unmistakable frame of Niall Quinn was striding in the opposite direction.

Within a few minutes of him disappearing, a text message arrived on my phone to tell me the big man had just stepped into the betting shop for a last minute flutter.

Truth be told, I’d been too busy figuring out all the different permutations that could happen after the match against Fulham and had completely forgotten it was Grand National Day.