I asked Nigel about tonight's game, and he told me about making oak trees. "Lincoln City were just minutes away from beating us in the first round (last season) but in the end we were just a single goal away from a Wembley final; from small acorns it's amazing what can grow."

Nice one, squirrel, yes I remember being in the lead 1-0 over Man U in the first leg, through Kris Commons, the rest is a blur.. Rotherham is "up north" beyond Sheffield, below Barnsley, in the triangle formed by those two and Doncaster. Further east is Scunthorpe, Sat'dy's away game, west are Manchester & Liverpool, north of them, Wigan, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Burnley, yes, even Accrington, Stanley. Thanks for your comments Stan.

However, Rotherham are playing their home games in Sheffield, at the Don Valley Stadium, an athletics stadium which has hosted major UK Athletic events, seating 25,000. Michael Jackson's played there, as have the Stones, & the Spice Girls rather than David Beckham, and it's been used for the championship finals of the British American Football League. Rotherham are there until a new community stadium is built at "home" following the breakdown of negotiations with the owners of their previous home, Millmoor. There have been questions raised about the agreement, and the Football League has stipulated that the club must move back to Rotherham within four years.

The first match Rotherham United played at the Don Valley was a pre-season friendly game against Derby County on 19 July 2008. The game finished 0–0. There were several friendlies held at the stadium before the start of the season. The first official league match was a 1–0 win over Lincoln City on the opening day of the 2008–09 season.

During large concerts, the music being played from Don Valley can be heard up to two miles away in nearby Rotherham. So they're on song and in with a shout, Nigel? "We know tonight will be extremely tough, and last season showed you can't take anything for granted. In our opinion Rotherham are one of the best teams in League Two and Mark Robins has done a terrific job there. He's had to contend with a deduction of league points last season and a late change of ground and changing facilities. The way the team performed against all that adversity is testament to Mark, his staff and the character of the players."

Rotherham had special celebrations for the centenary at Millmoor, built in 1907, but have had to abandon it with a new stand part-complete, and Japanese knotweed on the site, an invasive species. Hey, we all know about Knotweed Forest. Stand up, if you hate Forest... no, no, just joking, love and peace to all, especially near neighbours. Let's stay with hearts of oak tonight.

Meanwhile, up at Blackburn, are we talking rabbit in headlights on the Man City juggernaut, or will all Big Sam's efforts bring points? Nikola Kalinic has completed his move from Hajduk Split after being granted a work permit. Santa Cruz went to City for £17.5m, not much of that has been spent on the team. Lars Jacobsen (Everton), Elrio van Heerden (Club Brugge), Gael Givet (Marseille, £3.5m), Franco di Santo (Chelsea, loan) are the other new faces, with a new first team coach, Steve Kean and Nathan Ellington on trial. Sam's bitched about the players away on internationals, the injuries to David Dunn & Vince Grella, but he's famous for getting the best out of what he has, and if the opening game is a category C in his words, the players are asked to do their best, but don't expect anything out of it.

Sam, you've even been after Benjani according to the rumour mill. Do you have enough now with Nikola Kalinic and Franco Di Santo joining Benni McCarthy, Jason Roberts and Paul Gallagher for the goals? You've said we must hit the ground running at the start of the season or risk another relegation battle. "I don't have any dilemmas. We will play the team I consider to be the best XI against Manchester City, irrespective of what went on last season. What happened last season makes no difference to me, it is what happens this pre-season and what is going to happen on that stupid international friendly week."

How about Jerome Rothen? "Jerome Rothen is of an interest to us, but he is a left sider and I don't feel as though we need strengthening in the wide positions. Left and right we are pretty strong. Brett is on his way back, we have Dioufy, Elrio, Morten, young Junior who looks bright. From that point of view I don't think that is a priority."

OK, so here we are in that stupid international week, and Sam's happy about his wide boys. The staccato signing of Nik Kalinic of Hadjuk Split has cheered him too, now that he has his work permit, an entirely justified decision, Sam? "He should be allowed to come and express his abilities in this country and show what he can do. He has a terrific goalscoring record. He is only 21 and scores one goal every 1.6 games. That is why we have forked out as much money as we have."

Well, that's a stat we can check, and a few cheques building up to as much as £6m to split..

Sam, after the Christian Vieri saga, you're not really going after tough-tackling nearly 34-year-old - in October - Miguel Ángel "Míchel" Salgado Fernández, married to Malula Sanz, daughter of former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz? Get Real! He's seen the weather forecast for Blackburn after October, and his wife has told him where she won't be around Christmas and New Year. & he's not ready for our Red Tops tearing him apart as the top four slip goals past him, he's more used to the adulation of El Correo Gallego: Uno de los pilares fundamentales en la defensa del Real Madrid nació en As Neves, Pontevedra, en 1975. El jugador merengue Miguel Ángel Salgado Fernández, conocido por toda la afición futbolística como Míchel Salgado, empezó a jugar al fútbol cuando tenía seis años en un conjunto de su barrio, el Cristo de la Victoria, teniendo claro ya desde niño que su futuro estaría muy vinculado al mundo del balompié.

Rough translation - Spanish is only my 6th language - One of the cornerstones in Real Madrid's defence, Michel was born in Pontevedra in 1975. The player Salgado Miguel Angel Fernandez, known by all football fans as Michel Salgado, started playing soccer/footy when six years old in his neighbourhood, the Cristo de la Victoria, having already made it clear that the children playing would be linked to international football in future.